Trick of the Light
by Tears of Mercury
Summary: Liz is captured instead of Max at the end of Max to the Max. Nasedo wants to wait Pierce out. Max, Maria, and Alex just want her back. Michael and Isabel want each other. And no one's quite sure what Tess wants. M/L, Mi/I, Mi/Ma, I/A and OCxEddie action.
1. Chapter 1

**Summary:** At the end of Max to the Max, Nasedo makes off with Max and leaves Liz to deal with Pierce. The group splits. Destiny is contemplated. And everyone, including Liz, is wondering why she seems stuck in the middle of everything.

**A/N:** This is based on the challenge by FrenchDreamer. It's my first dip into the Roswell fandom, so I'd still like suggestions. My beta Raychel has been indispensible, but there are probably still a few errors here and there, so please excuse them. This is already posted at RF, so I'll get the first six chapters up as quickly as possible. I'm giving fair warning: people afraid to tread on the idea of an Isabel/Michael pairing shouldn't read. People afraid to read about moderate to severe torture sequences shouldn't read. And people who think Tess had any actual hold on Max should also probably back off. Everyone else, settle in for a bumpy ride. :)

Chapter One

"_Don't draw attention to us. Just stay focused, Liz. It's the only way we're gonna make it through this." _

The pain in her side screamed in protest as she ran. Liz shut her eyes for a moment in an effort to block out the clatter her footsteps made on the floor. She was being too loud, too frantic, too obvious. She wasn't sure if she was running from the FBI or from the man who seemed intent on using her as bait.

"What's wrong, Liz? Are you getting tired of our game?" Liz whimpered at the taunting voice that sounded so much like Max's. Her head turned wildly as she searched for an escape route. With renewed determination she started down the nearest pathway, trying to keep her gaze on the floor instead of the mirrors. It would be so much easier if she didn't have to look at his face.

"_You're smart. I knew you were the one I could get through to. They don't know I'm here. If they did..."_

More footsteps joined the fray. They were almost inaudible, spreading out until Liz feared they were trying to surround here. The trap she'd felt closing around her was becoming harder to escape with every passing second.

"_What is he looking for?" _

"_Max Evans...and anyone he thinks is involved with him. All 6 of your names are on that list."_

A bitter clarity consumed her. The FBI might not be aware of their rogue unit, but they might be disinclined to stop them if the were ever to learn the truth. Nasedo and whatever other aliens had survived the crash gave them no reason to take pause, no reason to show compassion. She could feel Max drawing close to her, could feel his all-consuming panic. Soon he would find her, and when he did the special unit would take all three of them for further observation. There would be no mercy for Max. He was very quickly entering the hell that Topolski had warned her of.

And it was all her fault.

"_Don't trust anyone."_

She should have known the moment Nasedo approached her that it wasn't Max, should have somehow realized from the strange cadences in his walk and speech that he wasn't Max at all. Instead she'd let herself be fooled. And that, in her mind, was the crux of the matter: she had _wanted_ to believe that she was the first person Max would come to with this information; that nothing Tess could say would change his desire to be with her.

Even if it was more likely for him to be by himself or talking with Michael and Isabel, she'd needed to believe that he thought of her as his confidant. She had allowed herself to be selfish, so happy that he was choosing to be with her that she ignored the warning signs telling her that something was wrong. By the time she'd understood her mistake, she'd already damaged things irreversibly. Nasedo might have confessed his part in everything, but she had no illusions about where the blame laid.

She was the one that had led Max straight into a death trap.

Suddenly the full power of her connection to Max flared to life. She had to resist the urge to fall to the floor and sob in relief. "Liz! Can you feel me?" His voice, the voice that was finally his again, called out to her.

"Max, I'm just around the corner! I think you just need to turn right-" A shaggy head of dark hair came into view and stopped less than a foot away from her. It wasn't until she glanced down at the mirror she was holding onto for dear life that she understood why. Liz bit back a frustrated scream. It was so typical, so damn tragically fitting, that now that Max had finally come to her rescue they were separated by a maze they couldn't begin to unravel.

He was trying to say something. She saw that he was focusing on the glass, trying to melt or dissolve it. His face was contorted with effort, the muscles of his back and forearms clenched. Whatever he was doing was taking too long. Liz attempted to assure him, knowing her voice might be muffled through the mirror but he would feel her all the same. He peered up at her, apology and fear marring his face. There was nothing he could do, she realized with a start. She'd just found him, but already their chances were better as individuals.

It was then that she spied his protector, still using Max's body and face like a mask, running straight towards them. "Max, look out!"

His head swiveled behind them, but before he had the chance to turn around he and the imposter were both barreling through the glass and straight at her. She didn't have time to jump back.

"_I've learned things, seen things...that no one would believe. Sometimes I don't even believe them myself."_

Wetness seeped from her head and matted her hair. Pinpricks of light danced before her eyes as she struggled to gain her bearings. Small pieces of glass wedged themselves in one of her wayward elbow joints. Her last thought before passing out was that she wasn't sure if the feelings of shock and revulsion belonged to Max or herself.

-

The resignation in her eyes tore him in two. For a moment she looked much less than her sixteen years. Her defenses were quickly erected, though, and she was soon trying to say something, important from the desperation in her eyes. As the first tear spilled down her face, she brushed it away furiously and sent waves of reassurance through their connection. He resisted the urge to smash through the glass, knowing that he might hurt Liz in the process. She urged him to run; the smallest of smiles graced her face as she told him that she trusted him to find the way back to her. Max Evans took a moment to wonder how anyone could be so brave.

It happened before he had time to blink. Liz was shouting and pointing, gesturing to him to run, but before he could turn away a solid body propelled him through the glass. Max and his captor collided with Liz. All three of them fell to the ground, but it was Liz who took the brunt of the fall. For a moment, there was complete silence. The muscular body on top of him didn't terrify him nearly as much as the stillness of Liz's frail frame lying brokenly under him. _'Oh, God, what have I done?_'

He tried to roll over, but the weight pressing down on him kept him in place. Tears flooded his eyes as he caught sight of the pooled blood behind her head. The guilt he had been fending off since they realized she was missing hit him fully. He had done this to her. _He_ had sought out Tess instead of staying near her and making sure she was safe; _he_ had been unable to command an object even Michael could have altered.

A hand clamped onto his arm and roughly pulled him off of Liz, causing a small, hysterical sigh of relief to escape his mouth. It must be the sheriff putting him under arrest; he would go to jail and Isabel would be furious and Liz might never forgive him for putting her through all of this, but she would be _safe_, and that, he knew, was all that really mattered.

"Hurry up, hurry up," the man holding him urged. Max's feet, which he had absently allowed to carry him forward, stopped abruptly. The person in front of him turned around and Max felt his stomach drop as he faced a carbon copy of himself.

"Stop where you are! Put your hands in the air!" The sudden yell echoed off the walls, eerily loud. The footsteps he heard, however, were bearing away from them.

"_Liz!"_ Max yelled, the sound torn involuntarily from his throat. His heart constricted while he waited for her husky, frightened response to reach him.

It didn't.

"She'll be unconscious. When she wakes up and they realize she doesn't know anything they'll let her go, but we have to get out _now_." Max wrenched free from Nasedo's grip and began searching frantically for a path back to Liz. It didn't matter if he had to break every mirror in this fucking maze; he was getting her away from those monsters that had Nasedo looking panicked.

"Liz! _Liz_! Where are you?"

Nasedo's hand lit up eerily. Apparently, he'd decided to help after all. Max didn't bother to brush away the relieved tears wetting his face; there was no time for that, no time for anything until Liz was okay. He didn't turn around in time to dodge the bolt of energy that hit him squarely in the back.

-

Liz could feel consciousness just beyond her reach. There was a sharp, throbbing pain emanating from the back of her head, and a less painful but just as insistent aching in her right arm. If she tried, maybe….

No. The darkness veiling her mind was falling too quickly. Her connection to Max, which had grown so much over the last few weeks, seemed to be momentarily broken. Instead of the panic she'd endured moments before falling she felt a strange sense of calm. He must be gone. He must be somewhere safe. She was glad. Pierce wasn't going to hurt her, Nacedo had said, and Max's safety was more important anyway.

Arms encircled her waist, pulling her into a sitting position. Someone was whispering soothing words in her ear, stroking her hair. The gesture was out of place and the voice and hands didn't belong to Max, but Liz was too tired to fight. Exhaustion greater than her physical pain had been slowly pulling her under for days. Now it seemed to wrap around her, sapping the last bit of aggression and adrenaline from her veins. She made no effort to fight the other person.

Even half-asleep, Liz understood that it wasn't a fight she could win.

-

Nasedo wove through the thinning crowd quickly, grunting under the added weight of his charge. Protecting these new additions was proving to be a suicide mission.

"You!" His head shot up at the exclamation. He allowed a knowing smirk to pass over his features before fixing Tess with an appraising gaze. The other two were nowhere to be seen.

"Tessa, now's not the time. Where are the others?"

"Right here!" Michael called, running up to them at full speed until he caught sight of his friend's unconscious body. His footsteps faltered. Nasedo saw Tess glance worriedly at him when his face turned a pale shade of grey. "Holy shit. What happened to Max?"

Nasedo impatiently beckoned for Michael's help. He mumbled something incoherent, irritation obvious in his tone. He barely held a tired sigh at bay as Isabel came to a halt in front of them and immediately began crying. He'd had years to wean Tess off of human emotions, but these hybrids seemed more human than alien. It certainly wasn't making his job any easier.

"No time for that now. We need to get him out of here." Michael started at Nasedo's voice, and immediately moved to help him shoulder Max's weight. Their progress was slow, but they managed to get him to the jeep without attracting too many stares. "Get him in the back seat," Nasedo directed. Michael hissed at the insistent burning in his arms, trying his hardest not to dump his best friend like a sack of potatoes the first chance he got. When they had Max settled in the back, Isabel immediately climbed in after him, stroking his bangs from his forehead and clutching him fearfully to her chest.

"What happened to him? Why hasn't he woken up?"

"One of Pierce's men managed to knock him unconscious before Liz and I found him," Nasedo explained, his voice and expression neutral. Tess stared at the guarded wariness she saw flitting behind his eyes. "There's no lasting damage. He's just sleeping because it's easier for him to heal himself when he's exerting less energy."

Michael narrowed his eyes, suddenly taking in the party around him. "Speaking of Liz, what happened to her? And why did you take her in the first place?"

Nasedo shot him a reproving glare and jerked his head at the jeep. "Get in, we don't have time for this at the moment. And in answer to your question, the human girl is fine. She's trying to intercept Valenti and clean up the mess that Alex and Maria made when they went to him." Michael started the engine and jammed the turn signal into place. Tess climbed into the backseat with Isabel and shot a cautious look at Max. His face was still ashen, and he didn't seem to be healing himself at all.

"Nasedo, are you sure that he's okay? Should we try to heal him?" She inquired softly. Nasedo looked at her sharply.

"When your abilities are needed I'll be more than happy to tell you. He's just worn out at the moment. Obviously the three of you haven't worked very hard at building up your endurance."

Michael hopped into the front seat without comment, clenching his jaw in an effort to stop the angry words trying to tumble out of his mouth. When he did speak, his voice trembled with rage. "Why haven't you tried to find us before now? And why go through Tess when you finally decide to make an appearance?"

"I hardly think that you would have reacted well to a stranger asking you to welcome them with open arms. I do know something about you," Nasedo retorted mildly. Michael merely gripped the steering wheel more tightly and stared at the highway.

"I don't like leaving Liz behind," he finally said.

"She'll be okay. The sheriff just wanted to make sure she was safe. And we can trust Liz," Isabel said. Her voice was still heavy with unshed tears, and when Michael turned around to face her he saw the doubt lingering in her eyes.

"Yes, you can trust Liz. It's not as if she's been fooled by an imposter," Nasedo sneered. His back stiffened involuntarily at the heated glare that Michael sent him. For a moment, he believed that the hybrid might be able to cause him bodily harm. It was an irrational fear and he quickly let himself relax again, hoping that Michael hadn't sensed his momentary trepidation.

"I trust Liz more than I trust either of you," Michael spat out. The unspoken response his words received almost made him drive the jeep off the road.

He wasn't sure how he knew that Tess was suddenly on the brink of tears or why he trusted that they were genuine tears, but the sensation sent an uncomfortable shiver down his back. After risking another glance back, he saw her trying to school her expression into the same placid mask she'd been wearing since the first time they met. A stab of guilt ripped through his chest. This, more than the dreams about Isabel that he couldn't get out of his head and the drama with Maria, or the problems between Max and Liz, made him uneasy. He had never felt his loyalties so completely divided between Isabel and Max and another person. It didn't help that somewhere along the way he'd come to feel a strange protective streak when it came to Liz.

Isabel looked between her companions uneasily. Nacedo was as stoic as ever, Michael seemed ready to jump out of his skin at the slightest provocation, and Tess, usually so talkative and forceful, had taken to staring out the window her body turned away from all of them. Isabel cleared her throat and leaned forward to talk to Michael.

"Michael, we're still three hours outside of Roswell. Do you want me to call Alex and Maria to let them know we're on our way home?" He nodded, his eyes still on the road. She took her cell phone from her purse without further comment, looking worriedly at her younger brother once more. With the very air radiating hostility, Max couldn't wake up and make peace soon enough.

-

"I'm going to get some food from the back room. Do you want anything?" Alex asked. Maria shook her head. She reached across the table to grab his hand and smiled at him affectionately.

"Thanks for taking such good care of me."

"Hey, you and Liz are my girls. The least I can do is make sure that the one who hasn't been abducted by a crazed alien is comfortable," he joked weakly. She looked down at her hands. "Hey, Ria…you know I'm just kidding. I'm sure that Liz is fine. She's a tough cookie, and she can take care of herself," Alex comforted, coming to sit beside her.

"Yeah, well with all of the alien madness I'm not sure that James Bond would be safe in Roswell," she replied, sighing heavily. "I just want Lizzie back here with me. Forget about Michael or Max or their stupid destinies, my best friend is all that matters right now." At the feel of Alex's concerned gaze on her, she turned to face him. A bitter smile played across her lips. "Michael has feelings for Isabel, apparently. Oh, and our relationship has gone from dysfunctional to out-and-out stupid in his book."

"They're all going through a really rough time right now. I'm sure he didn't mean it," Alex supplied.

Maria snorted, "Yeah, that's what he said, too. I just don't know if I believe it anymore. If Max is capable of cheating on Liz, why should I believe that Michael and Isabel aren't falling in love right before my eyes?"

"Because they're still the same people that they always were. We can't just abandon them now that they're going through a bit of an identity crisis," Alex argued gently.

Maria gazed at him, the corners of her mouth turned down and her eyes veined with red. "I'm not sure that they _are _the same people we've known for the past nine months. This whole year has been surreal to say the least. Now suddenly their protector is kidnapping Liz, and they're being even more secretive than ever. I don't know that they really care about our opinion one way or the other," she said, the familiar indignation at being left out of the loop creeping up. She pushed aside the nagging insecurity it stemmed from, instead focusing all of her attention on feeding the momentary spurt of aggression.

Alex looked down, his eyes momentarily darkening. "Yeah, I guess," he finally said. "Are you sure that you don't want that sundae?" Maria shook her head briskly, guilt churning in her stomach as she saw Alex walk away with slumped shoulders.

"Queen Amidala or not, I will kick some serious ass if Isabel Evans messes with him," she muttered. Maria glanced at the clock hanging on the alien-themed wall and frowned. Her friends and Tess had been gone for a long time now…too long. They had received a quick call from Isabel earlier that evening saying that they would be home in a few hours with Max and Liz, but they had yet to materialize. It was getting from flat-tire lateness to alien crisis tardiness. Despite the fact that they were on the outs right now and what she'd told Alex, the thought of Michael virtually unprotected in the middle of nowhere was still enough to make her heart stop beating for a minute.

Alex came out balancing to large bowls of ice cream, looking sheepishly at the ground when Maria arched her eyebrows. "You looked like you could use some cheering up."

"Alex Whitman, if I didn't know any better I'd think you and Liz were conspiring to make me gain twenty pounds before finals."

His eyes widened, "Are we really that obvious?" They shared a small laugh. A car engine rumbled in the distance. They stilled as it approached the Crashdown, both of them exhaling in relief when they saw the familiar faces coming toward them.

"Wait, where is Liz?" Maria asked, frowning.

"I don't-"

Alex's reply was cut off by the rage-filled cry that suddenly resounded throughout the street.

-

The first emotion Max remembered experiencing was displacement. He had climbed out of his pod and waited for Michael and Isabel to join him before heading outside, knowing instinctively that he was supposed to guide them. When they stumbled out of the cave on wobbly legs, the desert around them harsh and unforgiving, his previous curiosity was abruptly replaced by fear. The pounding in his head, the churning of his stomach, he understood with absolute certainty that something was horribly wrong. Terror overwhelmed him as he watched his sister wailing uncontrollably, tears streaming down her pale features. It took him hours to realize that her whimpers were joined by his own erratic sobs.

Isabel changed when the Evans found them. Her face lit up with hope the moment a tall woman stepped out of the car and embraced them; her tears dried where they fell. His sister whispered feelings that sounded like 'safe' and 'loved' into Max's mind, but he was too busy searching for Michael to really pay attention. He could feel her regret at Michael's absence, but for her it was muted by the joy of the woman tenderly wrapping a blanket around her shoulders. A motherly touch and Isabel was willing to forget the horror of that night.

Max, however, couldn't forget the chasm of loneliness that grew inside of him with each passing minute without Michael, without answers, without home; he had cried for the next forty-eight hours straight and every night after that for months on end.

The woman who had found them was his sole source of comfort. Warm hands smoothed tears from his cheeks and slender arms wrapped around him when he cried, never demanding anything of him or pulling away before he was ready. When her husband came with her, ready to bring them home, Max had only felt a trace of his original nervousness. A toy house and the promise of safety eventually soothed his fears.

Eating, walking, the very language in which his parents spoke to him felt foreign, but there was a comfort in the routine, so he followed it faithfully. The emotions so violently let loose before became almost effortless to contain. And every time his older sister looked at him in fear or indecision, he vowed that he would take care of her and banish all her fears and uncertainties, even if it meant never again acknowledging any of his own. Even if it meant losing Michael.

They had found Michael, though. Isabel was overjoyed, and Max felt a crushing relief. Why had he been so afraid of failing his brother and sister? He'd never been able to answer that question in the years since the three of them had found each other again. Their reunion with Michael, however, was always overshadowed in Max's mind by what followed next.

_Liz_. He'd known her name, somehow, without even hearing it. The kind, inquisitive smile she gave him when she felt his eyes on her face had made his heart jump into his throat. Without reason, without reservation, he had fallen hopelessly in love with her. Max had allowed himself to follow her every move, to memorize every one of her facial expressions and hand gestures. He had learned to be content with that because it was all he had. All he could ever have.

Staring at Liz Parker from a distance was his one escape from the nightmares still pushed to the back of his mind. And every time her eyes met his, if only for a brief second, it felt like he was home.

He let Michael and Isabel tell him that he was crazy because he knew that, logically speaking, he was most likely more than a little unbalanced. In his mind, though, nothing could compare to the moments he spent fantasizing about telling her the truth and her accepting it completely. Nothing could compare with the illusion that she could care about someone so alien to everything she loved.

Then one day, through no fault of her own, her very life had been threatened. His heart nearly stopped at Michael's warnings and his hands shook as he leaned over her, but no fear could keep him from saving her; she was, in his mind, more worthy of a second chance than anyone he knew. And that one simple action, a few million molecules rearranged and a haphazard bond formed, had altered his life forever. Liz Parker became a raw and harrowingly three-dimensional person who occupied even more of his waking hours than his dreams. She fought both for him and with him, always trying to convince him that she wasn't that far out of reach after all. She lit him on fire with a single word. He had fought, fought so hard to save her from what he was sure would destroy her, even as all his wildest dreams came true before his eyes. It hadn't worked, and her refusal to be turned away made him love her even more.

Even with everything going on, even with Tess, he still felt more accepted and loved around her than around anyone else. The fact that she neither loved him in spite of his alien half or because of it, but instead loved all of him equally made his heart sing. In the midst of all of the insanity, a simple touch to his hand or her body leaning into his was the only thing that anchored him. What no one seemed to understand was that Liz Parker drove his fear of everything away with the simple, unspoken promise of all they could become. She kept all of the shame and helplessness he felt at bay.

And it was because of this, because of the sudden clenching of his gut and ringing in his ears, that he knew upon waking that she was gone.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two

"_I trust her more than I trust either of you." _

The words swirled through Tess's head in a frantic circle, words and sounds mixing and mashing until all she recognized was the unmistakable anger in his voice. Each time she relived the phrase in her head it cut another mark into her chest so tight and sharp she had to resist checking for blood. Desperately, she grasped for a thought or an image to cling to, anything to take her mind off of the tense silence in the beaten up jeep. Breathing techniques and mindwarp instructions that Nasedo had repeated like a mantra throughout her childhood came to mind, but nothing seemed to stop Michael's angry, suspicious voice ringing in her ears.

Tess glanced nervously at Nasedo. He had been silent since his altercation with Michael earlier, simply watching the road with vacant eyes. The expression was one that she'd come to be familiar with over the years, and it usually meant that the special unit was getting too close for comfort or that there had been an unexpected casualty.

_Unexpected._ A sardonic smile twisted her lips at the phrase he'd fed her so many times. Had it ever been the truth, she wondered? Was there ever a death that hadn't been executed to perfection, a person killed only because it was absolutely necessary? Logically she knew that the salvation of an entire planet was more important than a handful of deaths. She couldn't even say that she wouldn't have killed someone who threatened her safety. But Tess refused to believe that she would have ever entrusted someone with so little regard for any type of life with the safety of her planet.

The sleek lines of Michael's back showed through his t-shirt, muscles clenching in nervousness. She barely resisted the urge to force his attention back to the road by reminding him that running her into a ditch might come at the price of Max and Isabel's lives. The foreign sensation of tears prickling her eyes came at the realization that that might not be enough incentive to stop him.

Her initial attraction to Max had failed to live up to the fabled romance of Ava and Zan, his sensitive and nurturing nature proving to be more than she knew how to handle after growing up shrouded in lies. Even Isabel, whom she felt a certain kinship to, didn't offer her the sisterly bond she had craved in her younger years. It had been Michael that she had been pulled to immediately. It had been Michael who brought foggy, inexplicable memories of a life she'd always presumed to remember perfectly bubbling to the surface.

Why did she care what Michael thought of her? Nasedo had explained to her from childhood that her duty was to Max and to Max alone, that without her he would never be the king her world needed. Recollections of a boy with brown curls staring up at a grey sky and lying next to her on water salty enough to hold their weight had been assailing her for over a month now, and with them came feelings of warmth and something unnamed.

"_Of course you were chosen. We're best friends, aren't we? I knew it had to be you." _The flash hit Tess particularly hard. Rath's voice was heartbreakingly familiar, and it held an easiness which she had yet to find with her family. And his face, shining with something Tess had yet to see Michael experience.

A large sign announced that Roswell was less than five miles away. Tess dropped the side of her face into her fisted hand, searching for a comfortable position. Her eyes momentarily caught Michael's in the rearview mirror, wary and worried and dripping with abandonment, and she knew that even with his foster father's abuse and Max and Isabel's neglect, he had changed very little since his past life.

The first and last tear streaked down her face as she wondered if she was at all recognizable as the queen that had once been worthy of the faith of a man like Rath.

-

"You should call the Crashdown again," Michael said sharply. "Liz might be there, and we need to know what she told the sheriff." Isabel let out a frustrated sigh and shifted under the dead weight of her brother.

"Michael, we'll be in Roswell in less than five minutes. Why do you want me to call them now?" She asked, doing her best to sound logical. She had felt fear coming off of him in waves ever since he found Max and Nasedo. Isabel had done her best to send him whatever comfort she could, but their connection had lain dormant for years, and rekindling it was taking some effort. It probably didn't help that all she wanted to do was crawl into a hole somewhere and sleep for the next century.

"I just have a feeling," he replied absently. "There's something off about this whole thing. There's no way that Liz would have just followed Nasedo's orders without argument, especially after he impersonated her boyfriend." He glared at the shapeshifter and received an indifferent smirk in return.

"I wouldn't be so sure of Liz Parker. After seeing just how alien her friends are, she might have preferred the company of humans for a while," Nasedo suggested.

"She wouldn't leave Max," Michael insisted stubbornly, clutching the steering wheel so tightly that his knuckles whitened. Tess opened her mouth to say something but appeared to think better of it, and Isabel silently thanked whatever god supplied the needs of unprincipled aliens.

"She would when the sheriff was seconds away from seeing two Max Evanses," Nasedo interjected impatiently. "Didn't you listen to a word I said earlier?"

"No, I was a little busy worrying that my brother was suffering from an aneurysm!" Michael retorted, violently rounding the corner to the Crashdown. "But I guess that panic is just another emotion our people don't feel, along with love and regard for the young," he said bitterly. Isabel clumsily pushed Max into a sitting position, suddenly unconcerned with his wellbeing.

"Michael, we are nothing like him. Do you hear me? You are _nothing_ like Nasedo."

"Back to your old habits already, Vilandra?" Nasedo asked, arching his brow.

Isabel fought down the pang of recognition and dread that came with the alien name. Where had she heard that name before? And why did it frighten her when everything else she'd encountered from her planet had only invoked feelings of curiosity? "What did you call me?" She said. Her voice trembled uncontrollably, and she clenched her hands against her thighs to stop her legs from jerking involuntarily. A shadow of fear passed over the alien's face, but before he could say anything Tess's voice, sharp and reprimanding, joined the conversation.

"He's just talking to himself again. It's becoming embarrassing, watching him get so paranoid in his old age," she said. Michael maneuvered the jeep into a parking spot and turned off the engine with jerky motions. Nasedo turned to meet Tess's eyes and the two of them shared a wordless argument, each dueling for dominance. Nasedo finally broke the staring contest with a humorless chuckle.

"Really, you'd think that after all these years humans would—" A primal shout drowned the rest of his words out. Isabel shrank back in horror from Max. The angry keen spilling forth from his mouth rent the air in two, but nothing could compare with the fire igniting his amber eyes. "Tessa, now!" Nasedo shouted, barely audible over Max's voice. The small girl shut her eyes in concentration, her brow furling in exertion. Isabel risked moving a tentative hand toward Max, barely biting back a scream of her own when she saw his alarming form suddenly lying down, slumbering peacefully in the backseat of the jeep once more. As if her mind had hit the wrong switch, Max's distraught condition quickly flooded back to her eyes, ushered in with a flash of green light.

"I'm sorry about that, I only meant to stop the sound from reaching everyone else, but so many people…" Tess was leaning against the seat, sweat rolling down her forehead and her eyes still clenched shut.

"What's going on?" Michael demanded, hopping out of the car and running to Max's side. "Maxwell, calm down and--"

Michael reared back under the force of his friend's unexpected blow. There was a sickening crack. He blinked furiously in an attempt to keep from blacking out, a task becoming harder by the second as the pain in his jaw increased.

"Max, what are you doing?" Isabel cried. She slipped onto the sidewalk and joined her younger brother at his place over Michael's form. She grabbed his arm and tried to get him to meet her eyes, but he shook her off effortlessly.

"I have nothing to say to either of you!" He yelled. "How could you, Michael? You've done your best to terrify her from the moment we told her the truth, but leaving her with Pierce—"

"What's going on?" Maria's frightened voice sounded over the groaning hinges of the café door. Isabel shifted her attention from her brother's muddled ramblings to Maria and Alex. A foreign jealousy took hold of her as she watched Maria kneel down next to Michael, tenderly touching his bloody jaw.

"Max woke up less than a minute ago, yelling his lungs out, and when Michael tried to ask him what was wrong he hit him," she whimpered, wrapping her arms around her waist. Alex moved to comfort her but stopped at Nasedo's clipped voice.

"Get back inside, both of you. The last thing we need right now is interference from anyone else." Max whipped around, his hands encircling his protector's neck in a moment's time.

"Don't you dare talk to them," he said, his voice deathly calm. "In fact, it might be better if you don't even look at them." He ignored Maria's shriek and Isabel's protests, focusing instead on the unhealthy color suffusing the other man's face. "So, we can die the human way after all," he said even more softly, his lips quirking ever so faintly. "Is that why you're so scared? Have you been lying to Tess, to us, this whole time about how strong we are? Is that why you sent Liz in my place?" Tess groaned in the backseat and collapsed without warning.

"What's happening to her?" Alex asked, eyes darting around uncertainly. "And where the heck is Liz? You guys were supposed to bring her back."

This seemed to be the fabled straw capable of breaking a camel's back for Max. His hands dropped from Nasedo's neck and he stumbled backward, finally hunching unsteadily on the sidewalk. He buried his head in his arms. Alex looked between the three injured aliens and Isabel's frightened countenance uncertainly, before stepping forward to take her hand. She accepted his offer numbly, leaning into him slightly when he angled his body behind hers. "So, Liz is lost or something. It's okay, we'll get her back," he said calmly, more to himself than the rest of the group. Maria, however, seemed much less disposed to wait for a coherent explanation. She abandoned Michael, who was now unsuccessfully attempting to heal his jaw, and walked over to Max.

"Where is she, Max?" Max failed to reply, but the tremors that had been wracking his body became more severe. Maria pressed on, her jaw clenching as she struggled to remain in control. Alex might be content to wait until Max and the gang decided to divulge all and invited them to jump into the jeep for a ride to Texas, but every moment without her best friend made the fist around her lungs squeeze a little tighter. "Where is she?" This time he burrowed his face even more deeply into his arms.

"Max, we really do need to know," Alex encouraged. "You're freaking us all out right now, and—"

"Damn it, Max, where the hell is Liz?!" The question burst from her mouth before she had time to consider it, but Maria found that instead of regret she felt a barely restrained impulse to shake him until he looked her square in the face. When he did look up at her, the anger and disillusionment tangible in his eyes were joined by a third, more disturbing emotion. "No," she argued, an overwhelming sense of helplessness consuming her. Maria felt her knees buckle underneath her before the words even left his mouth.

"Pierce has her."

-

"_Broken ankle, sprained wrist, cracked skull… don't understand…"_

"_X-rays said…"_

Pierce. The voice, she knew, could only belong to the leader. It was the only one authoritative and placid enough to command so many men. Liz could only catch pieces of the conversation taking place by the doorway, but she hung onto what she could hear, knowing it was likely to provide the few straight answers she would receive. Pretending to be asleep was not hard; with every breath her eyelids felt heavier and her body ached more. She wasn't sure how much longer she would be able to hold out.

"…_Alien?"_

The word brought her crashing into consciousness.

"… _blood tests…"_

The faintest of smiles touched her lips at this, and if her throat wasn't so dry she might have broken into an out of control giggle. They were looking for the wrong thing, testing the wrong person. In short, they were wasting valuable time. Time that Max and the others needed desperately. If the prickly, hospital-quality sheets underneath her were any indication, she wasn't suffering half of what Topolsky had prophesized. It seemed, in fact, that she was being taken care of.

"… _prepared for this sort of thing, goddammit!"_

"…_observation necessary… study…"_

A small, strangled moan escaped her lips. What was happening? Had Max and the others come after her? Had someone been captured? Maybe she had blacked out and lost a couple of weeks to sleep….

Daniel Pierce's photo ID brushed her arm as he leaned over her, smiling gently. A chill descended her spine, but she ignored it and focused on breathing evenly. The pain was still present but abating in small increments. "What…" she asked, her voice rasping uncontrollably. She attempted to clear it and brought on a coughing fit. The other person in the room was bustling around the IV stand next to her bed.

"We're administering your morphine dose right now," he explained. He ran a hand through her hair, and again she felt the urge to curl onto her side and hide from him.

"Where… am I?" she asked, wheezing again. Instead of answering he turned to a small table and poured her a glass of water, inserting and bending a straw. When he turned back to her, the roguish and charming smile was accompanied with a glint of caution.

"You're in the hospital, Miss Parker. You got yourself hurt pretty badly, do you know that? Don't worry, though, Max Evans has been taken into custody." She stared at him in confusion, not protesting when he placed the straw between her lips. Liz took a cautious sip, choking slightly as the foreign liquid slid down her throat. "Careful, there," he instructed. Once more the hand foreign hand ran through her hair.

"Where are my parents?" she whispered, pleased that her voice was clearing slightly. Pierce's face darkened for a minute, and she congratulated herself inwardly. Acting the part of a trusting innocent would throw him off much more than a paranoid, angry girl waking up in a strange room.

"They're home right now. They've been at your bedside for the past week or so waiting for you to wake up," he told her. "Your friends haven't been allowed to visit. I was just coming in to get an update on your condition for the sheriff. I'm Deputy Fisher. I arrived in town a few days before you disappeared." How much was the truth and how much was a lie? Kyle's dad had mentioned a new deputy arriving unasked for… maybe her parents really were here? Maybe she was just in a federal hospital? Even now, Jeff and Nancy Parker might be hearing for the first time that their daughter was involved with a fledgling group of aliens. It was possible that she had woken up too late.

Liz did her best to fight off the exhaustion becoming increasingly persistent. The agent's eyes flicked down to her slackening jaw and he smiled slightly. "Don't you worry about a thing, Miss Parker. I'll take care of everything," he said, giving her hand one last squeeze before leaving the room with the nurse.

As he exited, the broad metal door swung open widely. Liz's last vision before shutting her eyes was the opened doors of half a dozen empty, abandoned rooms.

-

"We need a plan," Max said, running shaking fingers through his hair. Isabel and Michael shared a concerned look, clasping each other's hands more tightly. Alex sat beside Maria in the corner booth traditionally occupied by the aliens. Maria looked ahead unseeingly. Tears ran down her face in rapid succession and she didn't bother to wipe them away. Tess stood unsurely by the counter, her unease since Nasedo's forced departure written on her face.

"You need to go to bed, Max, recover a little more from that energy blast that Nasedo sent at you," Isabel said coaxingly. Max stiffened at the maternal tilt to her words.

"I still haven't forgiven him for that," Michael muttered.

"Now's not the time," Isabel gritted between clenched teeth, casting a worried glance at Max. "We need to play this right, and sitting here sulking isn't going to convince Max that—"

"Isabel! Isabel, you can dreamwalk her," Max suggested excitedly. "You can dreamwalk her and find out where she is and then we'll go get her." He turned expectant eyes on his older sister. She swallowed hard at the half-crazed expression on his face, inwardly weighing his safety against his emotional stability.

"Max," she started gently, "I haven't ever tried dreamwalking Liz before. And if she's awake it won't work, and it'll only make everyone worry more."

Max shook his head vehemently. "Izzie, you didn't see her. She was out cold, all cut up, and the blood—" he choked on the rest of his reply and covered his face with his hands. Maria whimpered, and Alex's arm tightened around her shoulder. Michael looked longingly at her; from her perch in Alex's arms he could see her drawn face and glassy eyes. Her face contorted as silent sobs shook her body. He turned toward Isabel determinedly.

"Is, I know this is hard, but you have to at least try. If she's hurt badly then we need to get her as soon as possible." Michael ignored the tightening in his stomach as he caught her fiery gaze. Despite the command in her eyes he refused to back down. Isabel finally lowered her eyes.

"Michael, the minute we hear from her, Max is going to be out searching every last inch of New Mexico. There's a reason that this happened in the first place, you know. We need a better plan this time before we act," she said insistently. Her expression softened before she continued. "I know I've been too hard on Liz in the past. But you remember how well Topolsky treated her. Until the Special Unit realizes they can't get any information from her, they probably won't rough her up."

"Try anyway," Isabel started at Alex's quiet, firm voice. "We don't have to do anything yet, but I don't want Liz thinking she's in this by herself."

Tess shook her head and spoke up for the first time. "Unless we can find something out there's no point in—"

"Stop while you're ahead," Maria said coldly. She shrugged off Alex's arms and walked to the center of the group, turning around the circle the aliens had formed unintentionally and staring at each of them in turn. Her eyes rested on Max's for an extra second, softening at the desperate, dogged look in his eyes. When she looked at the other three, her expression hardened. "You know, I can't count how many times Liz has put the three of you first. She's lied, manipulated people, broken multiple laws – and instead of working to get her back you're making this into the Alien Espionage show. I've already tried sitting back and letting you decide things amongst yourselves, and my best friend ended up being taken by the enemy."

"Maria, I know. Can't you see that that's why we have to act?" Max pleaded, looking wildly between Isabel and Michael. Michael shifted uneasily and Isabel looked away.

Maria snorted derisively at their deflection and crossed her shaking arms across her chest. "If you don't get your selfish alien asses into gear and do something, I'm going to Sheriff Valenti with everything I know. If you want to risk it, be my guest, but there is no way that I'm letting Liz rot away in the same place that drove Topolsky insane." Isabel looked at her incredulously.

"You think this is all about us? Don't you understand that the more attention we draw to ourselves, the more questions Liz's parents will ask? Believe it or not, Liz trusted my 'selfish alien ass' enough to tell me that her parents are really starting to freak her out with all the interrogations." Maria walked up to Isabel, not stopping until they were inches apart. The fact that she was inches shorter did nothing to deter the sheer rage in her eyes.

"Don't pretend that you care about Liz! You don't think that she's told me about the way you treat her? Those little, cutting remarks you make when you think she's out of earshot? Every time she invites you to do something with the two of us you brush her off with that condescending ice bitch veneer. Maybe someone else would be able to say 'what the hell,' but Liz just wonders what she's doing wrong! Wherever she is, she's probably already deciding that this whole damn thing is her fault, and when no one even tries to contact her she'll just fall apart!" Maria shouted, not caring anymore that the Parkers were a floor above her fast asleep or that pissing Isabel Evans off in the current situation wasn't one of her smartest moves.

Isabel listened silently, a thin film of tears touching her eyes. Even her occasional arguments with Michael weren't this intense, and he never called her out on anything because she was always straight with him. "I – I'll try," Isabel finally whispered. "But I can't promise anything."

-

Max closed his eyes, suppressing a weary groan as Isabel shifted on the booth seat and jabbed her finger insistently into Liz's school picture. It was an older copy, he realized; probably from around ninth grade. The rhythmic tapping of Maria's foot against the tiles reverberated across the room, and Max could tell from the twitch in her jaw that it was irritating the hell out of his sister. Michael and Alex sat across from her. Alex was holding one hand in a show of comfort and Michael was boring holes through her with his eyes.

"It's not working!" Isabel exclaimed, muttering a curse under her breath as she pushed the yearbook away. "I don't know why I can't get into her head. I can feel her, just out of reach, but I can't seem to…" Alex rubbed his bleary eyes and slumped down in defeat.

"Maybe we can try tomorrow. I should probably get home, see if I can find anything that might help us."

"You can't decode this like some kind of computer virus," Maria argued. Her exhaustion seemed to have peaked an hour earlier, and now instead of crying or yelling she was glancing between the three of them erratically, wheels obviously turning at light speed in her head. Alex sent her an irritated look.

"Maria, I know that I don't have alien mind powers, but I think that some good old fashioned computer hacking just might come in handy when we're dealing with the FBI."

"Oh, like this is a branch of the FBI that's even on the web," she retorted.

"Well at least I'm not just sitting around criticizing—"

"Max," Michael said, looking at his best friend intently. He waved raised his hand and Alex and Maria fell silent. "What if you and Isabel tried working together? Like a piggyback connection or something. You might be able to get to her if both of you were trying." Max's heart sped up.

"Do you think it might work?" he asked hopefully. Isabel shrugged, crossing her arms in what could only be described as a self-defensive gesture.

"No one's ever had to help me with my powers before. But… it is Liz. And it is you," she met his eyes for a moment and then sighed. "It's worth a try." Max tripped over his feet in his haste to reach the corner booth, and he plopped down gracelessly when he reached it. "I guess you should take my hands," Isabel said nervously. Max reached out, curling his thumbs around the length of his sister's fingers. No sooner had he closed his eyes than he felt gentle tugging at his consciousness. Within moments he and Isabel were standing in the middle of a sterile-looking hospital room. The machinery was laid out to precision, much of it looking more advanced than anything the Roswell Community Hospital carried. And in the corner, hunched in a bed that looked more like an uncomfortable cot, sat Liz.

"Liz!" Liz looked up at the sound of Max's voice, joy and relief mingling on her face as she met his eyes. His heart pounded in his chest when she effortlessly slipped onto the ground and hurtled into his arms. The force of her small body jolted him momentarily.

"Oh, God, Max! When Pierce started talking with those doctors, I was so worried that they'd found you or Isabel or Michael or Tess. I was so scared that you weren't safe!" She buried her head in his chest, and he nudged the top of her head with his nose. Max drew in a deep breath, pretending that he could smell vanilla on her skin.

"Liz," Isabel said urgently, moving toward them quickly. "Are you awake or asleep? I've been trying for hours to reach you, but nothing's working." Liz looked up from her spot in Max's arms, her eyes widening as she caught sight of the other girl.

"I don't know. I… they've been giving me morphine for the pain. I know for sure that my right ankle is broken, but other than that all I know is that my head really hurts. It feels like I've been drifting in and out of consciousness for days." She glanced from Max to Isabel, her brow furrowing in concern. "You guys are okay, right? The sheriff isn't asking any questions?" Isabel shook her head, but Max redirected the small brunette's attention to his face.

"Liz, none of that matters. All I care about is that you're safe. Do you have any idea where you are?" His voice picked up urgency as he went on. "We need to find you, and soon. If Pierce has any proof that you're connected to us, then there's no telling what lengths he'll go through to get answers." Liz shook her head furiously, backing away from him.

"No, I'm fine. I'm in some sort of hospital, I think. From what I can tell, it's abandoned. He told me that you were taken into custody and that my parents were here." Max reached forward, but she shied away from his grasp.

"I'll try to get out as soon as I can, but you guys can't come after me. They're taking care of me. I think they're mostly curious about what you did to me during the shooting, and now they're just making sure that there's nothing abnormal about me," she said. "I'm going to be fine."

"Liz…" Isabel started, taking a step toward the other girl. Liz shook her head furiously.

"I'm okay, really. You guys have to worry about staying inconspicuous, like Nasedo said."

"I don't care about Nasedo!" Max exploded, stepping forward to reestablish the lost physical contact. "Liz, all I care about is getting you back safely!"

"I'm fine!" she insisted. "Max, just give me a few days and I'll be fine." He snorted in disbelief.

"You have a broken ankle and most likely a concussion. You've got a morphine drip for God's sake! You are not all right." Liz ignored him and looked beseechingly at Isabel.

"Isabel, you wouldn't be able to dreamwalk me if I was in really bad shape, right? I mean, I'm obviously okay if you can get inside my head."

"It took me a long time to get through to you Liz," Isabel argued hesitantly. "Look, if you could just give us some information--"

The scene abruptly changed to black. A moment later Max was blinking away the vestiges of sleep and picking his head up from Isabel's shoulder. Maria stood over them expectantly. "So? What did you find out?" Max pounded the table with his fist. Her face flashed before his eyes, so stubborn and certain as she insisted she was fine. Only the taught corners of her mouth had given her away. He wondered if this same frustration and vulnerability had encompassed her every time he pushed her away, citing her own good as the reason. He ignored Maria's probing eyes as he answered.

"Not a damn thing."


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter Three

"_I didn't know what to think. You're so...grown up all of a sudden. I just feel like I'm not a part of your life anymore, that's all." _

"_I guess it's just that whole privacy thing." _

Jeff Parker bit back a sigh as he glanced once more at the clock. Liz had disappeared sometime during her afternoon shift and had been gone ever since. As if Nancy's vivid imagination wasn't enough to worry him, the sheriff's vague call had had him ready to jump into the car and search the entire county for her. Accompanying his anxiety was a small, irritating wound that wouldn't seem to leave him alone. He'd known for a while that Liz wasn't his little girl, had come to expect the occasional missed curfew or argument. A sense of failure had overtaken him, though, when he'd realized that Liz had called Maria when she was in trouble and not him.

There had been a time less than a year ago where Nancy's constant expression was one of confusion at the multiple inside jokes that flew between him and Liz. His wife had confided more than once that she was slightly jealous of the close bond he shared with Liz. Sometimes it seemed that they could read each other with one look. Whenever he had a major decision to make, his mind immediately went to how it would affect Liz. For the past sixteen years she had been the driving force in everything he did, the center of his universe. Even though it irritated his wife to no end, he'd always pushed himself harder than was necessary so that he could give his Lizzie the best future imaginable (one that, in his mind, didn't include Kyle Valenti or Max Evans).

It just seemed that lately, Liz wasn't showing half as much concern for her future. Ever since that shooting last fall she had been withdrawn and secretive. Nancy had come to him in tears after a particularly nasty blowup with Liz that winter. He vividly remembered the panic that had besieged him that night as he and the Evans had called every one of their children's friends and the sheriff only to find that none of them knew where the pair was. As usual, Liz had pulled through the next morning, armed with an appropriately contrite apology, a meek attitude, and Max Evans's bodily shield. If he was honest with himself, the idea of Liz staying out all night with a boy hadn't angered him nearly as much as the way she seemed to disappear into his side as soon as Nancy had started in on her. Max hadn't deserved to have Liz look at him so adoringly, not when he'd been the one getting her into so much trouble in the first place.

There didn't seem to be much that he could do at the moment, though. Maria and Alex's bickering filtered through the floorboards, reminding him of the girl's insistence that she wait until Liz showed up. Something about her face had struck him as odd, but with so many problems cropping up with his own daughter he certainly wasn't the authority on adolescent female behavior.

Jeff stared at the phone beseechingly and mentally willed it to ring. The clock merely continued to tick off the passing seconds at a leisurely pace; the metallic sound of the circling hand making his neck muscles clench. It was already after three, and he had half a mind to go downstairs and send Maria home before she worried her own mother. Alex and Maria had made a habit of pulling all-night cram sessions with Liz last year, though, and if he knew them they would have called their parents earlier in the evening. Though never as dependable as her, Liz's friends had always shown a healthy dose of responsibility. It made him further question what exactly had happened to his daughter's own common sense.

Not for the first time, he wondered if Nancy had been right in suggesting that they send Liz to her sister's for the summer. Maybe she just needed some time to clear her head. He understood from a parent-teacher conference earlier that year that while Liz had maintained her average, she seemed to be struggling much more to do so. Guilt plagued Jeff as he wondered if his and Nancy's approval had only fueled Lizzie's perfectionist disposition. Yes, maybe a summer away under the roof of another watchful adult would help her to loosen up without falling off the face of the earth altogether.

He resigned himself to his midnight vigil, hoping valiantly that her reason for disappearing this time was as hazy but harmless as it had proven to be a handful of other times this year. He wasn't sure what he would do if things took a darker turn.

-

Jim Valenti paced his office aggressively, giving no mind to the creaking floorboards groaning underneath his weight. He'd spent the past hour muttering disbelievingly every swear word known to man, but after he had worn out his vocabulary panic had set in, quick and sinister in nature. His mind systematically played and rewound the scene he'd witnessed earlier. Years of experience in law enforcement sent a hundred worst-case scenarios running through his mind, each more chilling than the last.

There had been two of them. Mirror maze and sane explanations be damned, he had seen two Max Evanses running in different directions before those agents came barreling in. There had been gunfire, unsolicited and illegal, and more people running around than could safely fit into such close confines.

As for what happened after that…well, all he could safely say was that everything had gone to Hell. Some smug bastard from the FBI had appeared out of nowhere, waving his identification in the air, and with the air of a reproving caregiver, he had escorted Jim out of the maze. On the way out he'd heard a crash, so much glass shattering that he was half afraid the whole building would collapse. His voiced concerns had been brushed off with an irritating "it's all being taken care of, sir." In his experience, that phrase hardly ever boded well for innocent civilians.

And then there was that matter of Max Evans screaming for Liz Parker as if his very life depended on it. He'd never exactly been fond of the boy; the situation that brought him and his sister to Roswell always struck Jim as a tad too shady for coincidence. Many times Jim had reminded himself that the poor kids had been abandoned, most likely by abusive or neglectful parents. This still hadn't done much to assuage his natural suspicion. Luckily for Max, he was a minor (as he had pointed out on more than one occasion).

Something told him men who would fire their guns so carelessly might not care about that small detail.

"Sheriff?" Jim's head snapped up. He paused in mid-stride as he took in Liz Parker's bright, unruffled appearance. She smiled in embarrassment and tucked her hair behind her ear. "Sorry. I didn't mean to frighten you." He studied her face quietly.

"That's okay," he said after a moment. "I'm glad that you checked in. Your friends, Alex Whitman and Maria DeLuca, were quite worried about you earlier today. They said that Max Evans had abducted you." Liz let out an uncharacteristic snort. Jim looked at her curiously as she trained her face into a softened, understanding smile.

"I'm sorry that they got you mixed up in this. Max and I have just had some problems lately. When he showed up to take me away, I jumped at the chance. He wouldn't tell me where we were going, though, so I got kind of freaked and called Maria. We both jumped to the wrong conclusions. We got to a carnival less than an hour later," she said. Jim nodded thoughtfully. "I know we missed curfew, but we got a flat tire on the way home and Max didn't have a spare. We had to walk forever to get to the nearest gas station."

He gave her a grim smile. "Funny thing, Miss Parker, but I was at that same carnival. Did you by any chance go near the mirror maze?" She furrowed her brow in thought and shook her head after a moment of consideration.

"No, I don't think we did. It's so easy to get lost inside those things." Jim chuckled mirthlessly, his eyes still trained on hers. The usually soft spoken Liz Parker looked a little too confident for comfort, none of her usual stony, unspoken determination showing in her eyes. Her ebony orbs hinted at depths unseen.

"Kyle always got a kick out of those places," he countered, trying to make his grin a little easier. She tossed her hair over her shoulder and backed toward the door.

"I just wanted to let you know that Max and I are home safely," she said. "Because, you know, I called Alex a few hours ago and he said that everyone was really worried."

"Well, do I have a reason to worry?" Jim watched an unfamiliar smile form on Liz's face.

"No, sheriff, I promise you that everything's fine. If you don't mind, I'm going to head home now. I'd rather get the parental confrontation over with sooner than later."

"That's fine," he conceded. Liz grasped the door handle, stilling when he called her name. "Liz? I know that you're a mature young lady, but don't be afraid to ask for help if you need it. And be careful out there in the dark. You never know who could be watching."

The smile she sent him chilled him to the core. "Oh, believe me, sheriff, I know exactly what's out there." Her footsteps sounded on the tile floor of the hallway as she left.

Jim sank to the floor, placing his face in his hands. If he was crazy for thinking Max Evans had a duplicate, what would the FBI think when he told them he thought there were two Liz Parkers?

-

_This is all that evil, no-good, conniving bitch's fault._ "What did you say, dear?"

Maria glanced up sharply, managing to spill the two sodas on her serving plate while she was at it. "Damn it!" She cried, getting down on her knees and attempting to mop up the mess. The elderly woman sitting at the booth clucked her tongue.

"Such language. In my day we had some sense of propriety."

"Yeah, well, in your day they also thought that the world was flat," Maria muttered, throwing down her the thick pile of soggy napkins in disgust. "I'll be back in a moment with a mop. You might want to stay put until then."

"Oh, if I need anything I'll ask Elizabeth for help. She always tells me that I'm her favorite customer," the woman replied, a satisfied grin covering her face.

Maria stared at her, trying to decide whether to yell, cry, or simply walk away. A quick reminder of the last time she'd scared a customer away made her opt for the former. She attempted to stalk to the back room, but her mixed exhaustion and worry made her feet drag. As soon as she passed through the swinging door to the back room she collapsed against the nearest wall. "Liz," she whispered, brushing a tear from her eye.

A wisp of brown-black hair and ivory skin appeared on a whisper of air, garbed in a hospital gown and her best friend's face. The moment was over before it started – the image disappearing as quickly as it had come. Maria buried her head in her arms, resisting the urge to break down mere feet from the customers.

"You shouldn't cry so much. It'll ruin your complexion." She stilled at the familiar voice, feminine and sure and just a bit scratchy. When she stood up she saw Liz standing near the stairs, smirking at her obvious discomfort. The truth suddenly dawned on her.

"Nasedo," she said slowly. Alien-Liz walked forward, clapping his (her? its?) hands slowly. She stopped inches from Maria, leaning in to brush a strand of hair away from her face.

"I have to say, you catch on much more quickly than your friend. In the future, however, I'd prefer if you don't say my name so loudly. Some people fool quite easily, and I'd prefer to keep it that way. Adjusting to a female body is difficult enough without having to get completely in character."

Maria, forgetting the solid wall behind her, attempted to back away. The breath rushed out of her lungs quickly. Nasedo watched her carefully, eyes alight with a predatory gleam. "No one's going to believe that you're Liz," she whispered.

"Oh, Jeff Parker had no problems accepting me as the real thing last night. You'd be surprised what a few soft-spoken compliments and an earnest apology can get you," he replied. With a roll of his eyes and a flip of his hair, he could almost be mistaken for her absentee best friend. Almost. A bitter laugh escaped her throat.

"I have no idea who the hell you are or why you're doing this, but I swear to God that if anything happens to Liz while you're sitting here twiddling your thumbs, I'm the least of your worries. Don't think that you can fuck with Liz and get away with it, not on Max's watch." Small, elegant fingers were around her neck before she had time to blink.

"Don't pretend to know what's important to Max. He has been indulged for far too long, and the sooner your friend is back and out of harm's way, the sooner we can move past this mess. As it stands, without a pair of frantic parents or a sheriff monitoring Max's activity, the FBI will find it much harder to drive a deal. Besides," his lips quirked slightly, "do you think the special unit would rush West Roswell High in an attempt to capture a rogue shapeshifter? No, this way is much better."

He released her abruptly. Maria stumbled into the nearby row of lockers, choking for air. Her eyes watered as she fought to breathe. "Why are you doing this?" She finally wheezed. _Liz_'s eyes flashed dangerously.

"I've been patient with you, human. Don't try me," he growled softly.

"Lizzie? Are you almost ready to start your shift?" At the sound of Jeff Parker's voice, Nasedo abruptly turned around, smiling charmingly as he played with the combination lock on Liz's locker.

"Yeah, Dad, Maria and I were just talking about her cold. It's been getting pretty bad over the past few days." Fake concern dripped from his words.

Jeff Parker eyed Maria worriedly. "Kiddo, if you were feeling sick you could have just taken the day off. I know that Agnes isn't the best waitress in the world, but I think that between the two of us we could manage without you for a morning."

Maria looked between the two warily, still coughing a little. Nasedo gave her an encouraging thump on the back, one that she knew appeared much smaller than it was. "It just came on kind of suddenly. I was actually thinking of seeing if Michael could come in and take me home… I've been feeling kind of dizzy." 'Liz' gave her an approving smile.

"That's a great idea, Maria. We have exams coming up, and you don't want to go into them feeling sick." Maria barely restrained herself from frowning as tears built up behind her eyes.

"I – I guess I'll make that call now," she mumbled. As soon as she'd stumbled into the alley she collapsed to the ground and heaved up the contents of her stomach. She might be made of Teflon, but the image of someone who looked exactly like her best friend ready to strangle her would take a long time to banish from her head. Maria's hands shook violently while she hit the buttons on her mobile, bringing it to her ear just in time for the first ring. She resisted the urge to whimper.

"Hey, Ria," Alex's voice came tiredly from the other end of the line. "I know that I yelled at you last night, but can we please just call a truce? The last thing I want is to hurt you." A tear slipped down her cheek. Her shaking shoulders and chattering teeth seemed to be rendering her useless at the moment. "Maria? Where are you? What's going on?" Alex's low, urgent voice finally brought her out of her shock.

"Alex, Nasedo is here at the Crashdown. He's… he… he looks like Liz. I am so scared, Alex. How are we supposed to get her back if no one knows she's missing?"

"Where are you?" He asked.

"I – I'm in the alley out back of the Crash. He made up some bullshit excuse about me being sick, and I – I just couldn't…."

"Maria, it's okay. Listen to me, I'm coming to get you. Don't bother moving." She nodded into the phone, knowing he couldn't see her but would interpret her silence correctly. The line filled with static as he shifted it from his ear.

"Alex!"

"What is it?" He demanded, the panic evident in his voice. Maria cursed herself for being so quick to open her mouth.

"Please don't hang up until you get here," she said in a small voice.

"Of course." Knowing that Alex was on his way helped her to breathe easier. Even Liz, who found it so difficult to accept anything that couldn't be fixed, was calmed by Alex's presence. She wondered if, despite rationale, the girl she had seen earlier was Liz after all.

She could only hope she had been seeing things, because it her best friend was in that bad a shape than they couldn't possibly get her back soon enough.

-

She could not open her eyes because she did not want to see what was beyond them. She could not make herself go to sleep because she knew that she would see him there; would see her. She would see all of them.

"_You are…"_

"_You were meant…"_

"_Yours…"_

"_Destined…" _

The nightmares would eat her alive if she let them, so Liz chose to battle exhaustion instead. Tiredness was easier to deal with than visions of Max and Tess, of Max smiling with Tess. Anything was less painful than that.

Her brain told her that Nasedo had been right. Max and Tess were destined for each other; why would she, the mere human, be getting flashes of them together otherwise? Because that was what they were, she was certain. Nothing she was seeing was a figment of her own imagination. In spite of that, her heart screamed in protest. Her heart thudded painfully against her ribs every time she thought of her Max being meant for someone, anyone else, even if it was one of his own.

Something strange was happening. The more frequently the doctors came to her room, the more concerned they sounded. She knew that she wasn't healing properly from the increased medications they gave her, but she felt fine. Better than fine, really.

_Liz._ The voice washed over her, therapeutic in all its longing and pain. Wherever Maria was, she could hear her. If only she was close enough to heal her friend.

"_Forgotten one, face of truth. You shall shine on Antar and bring sunrise from ashes."_

The flash blinded her, draining her body of the strength she'd been so confident of moments ago. A strangled cry left her throat as it tore through her, and with all her might she clung to the small thread connecting her to the world she was leaving behind, and to Maria. For one wondrous moment she was everywhere and nowhere, gazing at her best friend and reveling in release from the confines she felt in the hard hospital bed. Rest found her, and she sighed as she let go of the weight she'd unknowingly carried on her shoulders all this time.

Liz slipped eagerly into the barrage of dreams that awaited her, not for a moment remembering her earlier reticence.

-

Max Evans was in his own personal hell. Every step he took served to remind him that Liz wasn't beside him. The three periods he'd sat through without her only made him dread entering biology and seeing her empty seat. How was it possible that the situation had gone south so quickly, when less than a month ago he'd been in heaven? How could things have escalated to the point where the very action that was supposed to save Liz Parker's life had endangered it?

He missed her. He missed the loud, insistent sound of her shoes tapping as she struggled to catch up to him to say hi. He missed their usual morning rendezvous at his locker. More than anything, though, he missed the assurance that came from sensing her physical presence, solid and real and oh so assuring that she was perfectly safe. Max would even have settled for the worn, tired look she'd tried so hard to hide the last week or so if it meant knowing that she was nearby. At least that he could do something about.

Whatever was happening to her, he was going to find a way to make it right. He didn't care if he had to kill every last agent in the special unit to get her home safely. Once she was in his arms, he'd start to worry about things like reason and caution and healing. For now, he was more worried about finding her than he'd ever been about protecting his secret. Even if she hadn't peppered him with questions, broken up with Kyle, and fallen as deeply for him as he had for her, he would have saved Liz's life. He was beginning to wonder if that wouldn't have been better for her.

Not even that line of thought could prepare him for the sight that greeted his eyes as he rounded the corner.

-

"I am completely screwed." Kyle ignored the curious stares he received from the few students close enough to hear the comment and dug even further into the cavernous mess that was his locker. While he'd never exactly been organized, he usually had the presence of mind to bring his gym bag to school. Then again, nothing in his life could accurately be described as "usual" at the moment. When he started falling for girls like Liz Parker and girls like Liz Parker started choosing other guys over him, there was obviously something very wrong with the universe. Hell, a guy's game had to be shit if Pam Troy was turning him away.

"Need help finding something?" Kyle jumped back at the soft voice, banging into the row of lockers in the process.

"Liz, what the hell are you doing?! Are you trying to make me look bad, or is seeing me this uncomfortable just something you find amusing?" He growled. She gave him a placating smile and placed her hand on his forearm. The unexpected gesture sent a jolt through his system. How long had it been since she'd instigated any kind of physical contact between the two of them; since she'd appeared as though she genuinely liked touching him? It had to be sometime before Max Evans entered the picture.

"I just wanted to see if we could talk later. I know that I've been acting really weird this year, and I was just wondering if you could give me a chance to explain," she said.

Kyle shook his head. A small laugh escaped his lips as he thought of all the times he'd wished to hear those exact words come from Liz, of all the times he'd longed to feel her in his arms once more. Seeing his fantasy fulfilled made him realize just how hollow a dream it was. "I've given you plenty of chances to explain your behavior this year. Bizarre doesn't even begin to cover it."

"I know," she interrupted hastily. "That's why I need to make this up to you. You have to believe that I never meant to hurt you, Kyle."

He drew in a sharp breath at the sight of her upturned face. She looked at him imploringly, and he could swear that the faintest glimmer of tears shone in her eyes. Who could possibly resist that face? "Yeah, well, you did," he mumbled, shuffling his feet. The halls were rapidly emptying, but the promise of yet another tardy slip wasn't nearly enough to budge him. Maybe, if he just held out a little longer, he'd finally get a few answers. He might even get Liz Parker along the way.

"See, that's what I realized yesterday. Max planned out this whole afternoon for us." Her fingers curled around his arm more insistently when Kyle flinched at the mention of Max. "And the whole time that I was with him, all I could think about was you. Every time he looked at me, touched me…." She ran her hand up to his shoulder. Kyle groaned silently, knowing that in moments he would be a goner. He wondered what was going on inside her head, and why her normally expressive eyes were so enigmatic. There was a seductiveness about her air that had caught him off guard, and he felt himself being pulled in against his will. He gulped as his eyelids slid shut of their own accord. "Don't you see, Kyle? No one could ever compare to you." When had her face gotten close enough that he could feel her breath on neck?

Kyle barely registered the sound of footsteps drawing near. "Someone… a teacher…" He stuttered, all coherent thought leaving his mind.

"Ignore it," she whispered, and she pressed her lips against his.

Everything he knew about Liz Parker was turned on its head. She had suddenly become aggressive and coquettish, and her kiss only belied this change in her character. All at once they were pushed up against the uncomfortable row of lockers, and her tongue was teasing his lips before Kyle had a chance to wonder how she'd managed to push him so easily. He let his hands settle on her hips, right at the hem of her jeans. Liz smirked into the kiss and Kyle resisted the urge to pull at the collar of his shirt.

Something wasn't right. Always before Kyle had felt that the smallest of kisses from her was a gift, something pure because of its rarity. Now she was commanding him with a disturbing ease and an amusement that made him feel used instead of wanted. The sheer masculinity of her kiss caught up with him and he pushed her away abruptly. Her breathing remained even as she regarded him, head cocked to one side and eyes smiling with something akin to possession. Kyle felt a part of himself he'd only touched on violated as he met her gaze.

"What the hell was that?" Shit, if he didn't know better he'd think he sounded heartbroken. The sheer emotion of the situation overwhelmed him in a way that previous run-ins with Liz never had.

"That's what I'd like to know."

Kyle's stomach sank as he turned around to meet Max Evans's furious eyes.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter Four

"_Liz, something is going on with her. I'm telling you, something is not right about her."_

Liz was kissing Kyle. The other boy held her with an unease that did nothing to hide his experience, and Max found himself reaching the boiling point as he watched his girlfriend's gorgeous face marred by a smirk. He wasn't sure if the knowledge that _his_ Liz was miles away in some god-forsaken government facility made the situation more or less upsetting. There was only one answer to the question running through his mind, and Max latched onto it with a ferocity that startled him.

Despite the overwhelming rage clouding his judgment, his legs locked tightly and merely clenched his jaw, unable to move forward and stop the embrace. He found himself sickly fascinated by the intimate exchange, noting in Kyle's movements experience that he himself didn't possess. The scene suddenly changed as Kyle's large hands forcibly extricated Liz from the kiss. Out of instinct Max took a step forward to shield her, stopping himself at the look of terror and disgust on Kyle's face. "What the hell was that?"

Liz gave Kyle an amused smile, her eyes shifting to Max and back to Kyle almost instantaneously. The satisfaction and superiority displayed by the small form drove Max completely over the edge. "That's what I'd like to know," he said. His voice was deceptively soft.

"Oh, Max!" Liz exclaimed, whirling around to face him. Her eyes rounded in faked surprise and she placed a hand over her heart. "I had no idea that you were there."

"Obviously," Kyle said bitterly. Despite his utterly ravished appearance, Max found himself feeling a pang of sympathy for the other boy. "What, did you set this up, Liz? Are you trying to make Evans jealous?" A look of comprehension dawned on his face. "This is about that new girl, isn't it? Suddenly someone gives you a little competition and you're ready to whore it up for your man?" Kyle's voice gained volume and strength as he continued, and at the sight of Liz's stricken expression, Max almost forgot that it wasn't Liz that Kyle was berating so harshly.

Before Kyle could continue his tirade Max stepped forward, any previous paralysis coming to an abrupt end. He grasped Liz's elbow firmly in his hand, his fingers digging into her skin as he moved down the hall. "Max, I know you're angry, but try to be reasonable," she complained, pouting so exaggeratedly that Max had to restrain himself from giving a humorless snicker.

"Liz?" Kyle asked, his voice suddenly taking on a note of concern. Max thought he heard her mouth whisper a curse word before she turned to face Kyle.

"We're fine. Max and I just need to talk, so… you should probably go."

"Dismissing him so soon?" Max growled. "I would have thought you'd keep him around for awhile." He tightened his hold on her arm, his only measure of restraint coming from the fact that imposter or not, the person in his grasp looked exactly like Liz.

"No. No, you know what? I don't care anymore," Kyle stated, stepping backwards. He held his hands out in front of him, anger and resignation flashing in his eyes. "For a minute there you actually had me going, Liz. Good thing your _boyfriend_ was around to set things straight." His voice was laced with venom as he stalked down the hall.

Max watched him retreat into the distance. Once he'd departed a safe distance Max tightened his grip on Liz's arm and dragged her through the hall. Recklessness took hold of him as he searched frantically for a closed, contained area where he could rip her to shreds without interference. His eyes fell on the janitor's closet and he strode toward it with purpose, dragging the creature behind him with all his force. When they were safely inside he pulled the door shut viciously, moderately satisfied the by the ominous crack it made as it closed. When he turned to face her, he found Liz standing in the corner with her arms crossed. He moved towards her quickly, his arms reaching up to grip her shoulders. "I think you'd better let down that mindwarp now," he said quietly.

"What?" There was a genuine tone of surprise in her voice, but Max brushed it aside.

"Oh, you know exactly what I'm talking about. It wasn't enough that you had to make me kiss you, was it? You had to show me my girlfriend mauling her ex-boyfriend where anyone could see, too." His voice rose and he shook her shoulders more fiercely. "I swear, hiding under the protection of Liz's face isn't going to keep me from throttling you for much longer. End the warp, Tess, or I swear to God I will find a way to break it for you!" he roared.

The door shot open. "What the hell is going on in here, Maxwell?" Michael demanded, his face paling when he caught sight of Liz. Max glanced over, ready to quiet his best friend, and paled when he saw Tess entering behind him, breathing heavily but otherwise unruffled. Max felt terror curling in his stomach.

"How are you doing this? How can she be here when you're standing over there?" His faced became a mask of horror as a thought occurred to him. Was it possible that her powers were advanced enough to create the illusion of an actual human being?

Tess stared at him in surprise and stepped behind Michael instantly. "I don't know what you're talking about," she protested.

"Max, you're hurting Liz," Michael said calmly, a dazed expression perched on his face.

Liz shook out of Max's grip effortlessly and stepped to the center of the room. A sickening glow started at her hand and moved outward, illuminating the whole room as her features shifted into those of Ed Harding's. "Really," Nasedo said, his voice taking on a reproving tone, "Tessa is much too vain to try breaking you and Liz up by conventional methods. She'd much rather believe that you'll fall in love with her all on your own." His brow quirked as he glanced at the small blond. "Although, it appears that you're wild card is out on the table. Since you haven't mentioned anything about your powers to Isabel or Michael, I'm assuming Max surmised them on his own. It is quite remarkable that he knew the correct name, though," he commented, turning to Max with an interested expression. "How _did_ you do that?"

"Why are you here?" Max demanded, purposely ignoring the troubling question. "And why are you pretending to be Liz?" His features grew pained. Michael glanced at the floor, discomfited by his friend's sudden display of emotion. Nasedo rolled his eyes impatiently.

"It would seem that your powers aren't the only thing you've let go to waste. Why do you think I'm here? Someone had to take care of the sheriff and Liz's parents. And since Tess seems to have decided that commonplace mindwarps are below her-"

"You know I can't keep them up that long," she interrupted quietly.

"So, you start skipping out on classes and seducing Kyle Valenti?" Max asked incredulously. "I know you only spent one afternoon with her, but you must know that Liz would never do that."

"In case you haven't noticed, I did show up at your school," Nasedo snapped. "And it's not my fault that you're so focused on that human that you've completely forgotten about your mate. How else would you suggest I proceed?"

"Maybe by treating Liz's identity with a little respect," Michael bit out angrily. His eyes had narrowed and he regarded the shapeshifter with the wary expression he always wore around the fifth alien. Nasedo snorted, smiling knowingly.

"Oh, I don't know, I think I'm doing Liz justice. I'm not sure what Max has been telling you, but from my… experience… with Liz, she certainly didn't seem as pure as he'd like to believe," he retorted.

A strangled sound escaped Max's throat, and Michael quickly reached for his arm when Max attempted to close the small distance between himself and Nasedo. "Okay, we need to get you out of here before someone comes to check up on the commotion." He surveyed the room for a moment, frowning at the empty space next to Tess. "Where's Isabel? Tess and I both felt you getting worked up, and she'd usually be the first one to come find you in a situation like this." Michael added silently to himself that he needed Isabel's help in the present situation more than he wanted to admit.

"I saw her cut out of second period," Tess offered. "She looked really worried, but when I asked if she was okay she just kind of shook her head."

Panic immediately welled up in Michael. "Oh, Iz," he muttered softly. Looking up to Nacedo, he motioned to Max's almost catatonic form. "The two of us are going to find Isabel. If you're planning on keeping this ridiculous act up you'd better get your ass into gear. The bell is about to ring."

"Should I come with you?" Tess asked eagerly, her features and voice laced with concern. Michael paused a moment, unaccountably softening at the sight of the icy eyes trained on his. He hesitated for a second, remembering the shouts he'd heard from Max just minutes earlier. The last thing that they needed right now was Tess trying to wheedle her way into his best friend's good graces.

"No," he said after a moment, shaking his head firmly. "We're the ones she would want." He did his best to avoid her crestfallen expression as he tugged Max into the hall. Tess stepped out to join them and shut the door on Nacedo, who had trained his hand in front of him and assumed a concentrated expression. The bell rang overhead as light filtered through the cracks in the closet door. Students flooded out of the doors and Michael turned imploringly to Tess. "Can you do something about that light?"

"Oh… sure," she replied, closing her eyes immediately. Michael withdrew his hand from Max's bicep and placed it on his back, suddenly feeling the need to shield Max from the rush of classmates in the hallway. Max followed him stiffly, eyes trained to the ground.

Although he knew her eyes were closed and her focus on something else entirely, Michael couldn't shake off the feeling that Tess was watching every step he took with a deepening degree of abandonment.

-

Nasedo eyed Tess's still form with amusement as he stepped out of the closet. "Were you hoping to put on a show? I know it's not as fun without powers, but Liz's body is probably a good match for you if you were hoping for one of those clawing matches," he said, the tone in his voice almost teasing. She stiffened at the sound of his voice.

"Why didn't you tell me you were replacing her? At least you could have prepared us," she whispered angrily. "Max was about to completely lose control of his powers, some of which he doesn't even seem to be aware of yet!"

Nacedo ran slender fingers through the wealth of silky brownish-black hair hanging past his collarbone. "I thought you would assume that was where I was," he recanted lazily. "We've been through the drill often enough, haven't we?"

"But this is different," she insisted. Despair seeped into her words but it was quickly masked with condescending anger. "They hardly trust us as it is, and pretending to be one of their friends is supposed to make it better? If you're going to take care of us than you're going to have to be able to get within twenty feet of Max without him ripping you apart limb by limb!"

He graced her with a smirk. "I don't have limbs, or have you forgotten?" She bit back a groan, turning her head to the side.

"Did you see the way Michael looked at me? It was as if he thought I might try to blast him if he took his eyes off me for a second," she said softly. Her voice picked up bitterness as she continued. "Not that I can blame him after that stunt you pulled with Max. I don't know what our parents were thinking sending _you_ as our protector." Anger contorted his face briefly before it was replaced by a glimmer of remorse.

"Ava-"

"Don't call me that!" She hissed. Her eyes filled with tears as she stepped back. "Why do you only seem to care when you're looking at me as if I'm her?"

"You are her," Nacedo countered. She shook her head, turning and preparing to run as far as she had to in order to escape his expectant eyes.

"I don't know who I am," she murmured quietly.

-

_Clench steering wheel, step lightly on gas pedal, and keep both eyes on the road in case someone is stupid enough to take up permanent residence in the middle of Birchwood Street. Ignore the feeling in your gut. Ignore it like you ignored Max's sobbing last night and ignored Liz's fear when you dreamwalked her. Ignore the whole damn mess and get to Alex's. _She repeated the mantra over and over in her head, pausing to check her rearview mirror as she heard a car pulling up behind her. She cursed under her breath as she recognized a friend of her mother's and jerked the car to the side of the road, despite the fact that Alex lived five houses down. As soon as the car was out of sight she cut the engine and jerked the door handle. The jeep seemed to groan in protest as the door swung open wildly. A pang of dread hit her as she realized that by merit of the jeep alone, she'd probably been recognized instantly.

Hopefully her mother would take more kindly to skipping school than staying for impromptu all-night study sessions at Liz Parker's.

Isabel turned around once, examining the quiet street warily. The feeling in the pit of her stomach remained, but she felt safe in surmising that no one was watching her. The absence of prying eyes didn't calm the anxiety in her belly, though, and it didn't stop her hands from shaking as she walked briskly down the street. She stopped at the walkway to Alex's house, fisting her hand as she weighed her options. If something… alien… had happened to Alex, then he needed her as quickly as possible; and if, God forbid, he was being held inside of the house, her best bet was a few melted locks or a broken window. On the other hand, if there was a perfectly reasonable explanation to his absence at school earlier then it might be kind of difficult to explain away breaking into his house.

The choice was made for her when the door opened softly and Alex's exhausted gaze met hers. "What are you doing here, Isabel? School is still in session," he said tiredly.

Her adrenaline transformed into rage at the sight of his raised eyebrows and defensive stance. She glanced quickly up and down the street before practically running to the front door. "Yes, it is still in session. In fact it's been in session since eight AM this morning, and on top of Liz's absence I had to cover for you and Maria during homeroom," she snapped, brushing past him and entering the house. "So while you were at home in your pj's having a slumber party with Maria, I was sitting in class panicking and waiting for Max to interrupt class to tell me that you'd been abducted, too. And when I finally get so scared that I cut English to come and find you all that you do is ask me why I'm here?!" Her voice rose to a fevered pitch as she whirled to face him.

Alex closed his eyes briefly and ran a hand over his face. "You're right. I should have called you, or at least Michael or Max. We just didn't want to cause any more trouble, you know, and I've been so preoccupied with trying to calm Maria down…."

Isabel let out a dry laugh. "Oh, I get it. Maria had a panic attack because Michael left her alone for about five seconds and you decided to take on the role of her protector and monitor her cypress oil intake. Heaven forbid that you follow the plan and act _normally_ when Max and Michael and I are all depending on you!" She yelled. Eyes stinging, she fisted her hands in her hair and tried to focus on a Native American patterned wall hanging across the foyer.

When Alex spoke again, his voice was low. "Look, Isabel, you're not being fair. Nacedo obviously didn't give you the whole story, and I understand the stress this is putting you under. Believe me, I get it." He reached out to touch her hand but she batted his arm away harshly.

"You have no idea," she growled, "what the four of us are going through. Days ago I thought I was pregnant with Michael's child, and then Liz goes and gets herself kidnapped by our errant protector—" Alex flinched but remained silent, reminding himself that Isabel had a habit of phrasing things the wrong way when she was under pressure. "—and now Maria, who's been a time bomb ever since Liz let her in on this, is blowing things exponentially out of proportion!"

Alex's face darkened. "Stop right there. You crossed the line five seconds after you came in, but don't you dare accuse Maria of blowing this out of proportion!" He exploded. "Under the circumstances, she's doing a hell of a lot better than you are. And I think that with the four of you so focused on yourselves, it makes sense that she would come to me when Nacedo showed up as Liz and tried to shut her up the easy way."

Isabel stared at him blankly as the pieces fell haphazardly into place: why Valenti hadn't been any trouble, why Jeff and Nancy Parker hadn't reported their daughter missing… "Wait," she said, reviewing his last few words, "what do you mean he tried to shut her up the easy way?"

Alex put his head in his hands, his shoulders trembling as he drew in shuddering breaths. Isabel brought her hand out, ready to comfort him, but thought better of it. When he looked up at her, fury and tears mingled in his eyes. "She has bruises in the shape of someone's handprints spanning her neck from where he almost strangled her. She was in shock when I found her, and she's thrown up three times over the course of the morning. Whatever the hell he did to her, it packed a bigger punch than a normal human fight. And on top of all of that, she's convinced that she got a flash of Liz in a hospital gown this morning."

Isabel shook her head furiously, crashing into a side table as she backed away from him. "No," she said, trying to blink away the spots marring her vision. "No! I won't believe that. Nasedo's misguided, he's not homicidal. If Liz hadn't run away from him and screwed up the plan—"

"So now this is Liz's fault?!" Alex's hands balled into fists as he faced her, his eyes flashing with anger foreign to them. "It's her fault that your psychotic 'protector' spent an afternoon playing mind games with her and then delivered her to the FBI on a silver platter?" He paused to look at her, grimacing as he shook his head. "You just can't deal with the fact that it might be his fault, can you? That her abduction could somehow be related to you?"

Isabel's eyes blazed with something bone chilling and altogether alien as she considered him. "Liz knew from the beginning where we stood and where she stood. _She_ was the one who pursued Max, all but chasing him down like a puppy because he impressed her with his glowing hands. He _told_ her from the beginning that he didn't want a relationship with her. She ignored him and got hurt in the crossfire. This is not our fault. It's all hers."

Horror played across Alex's face for a moment as he took in the cold, measured tone of her voice. His lips thinned and his hands clenched more tightly, his nails cutting into the palm of his hand insistently. "Get out," he said softly. When she remained unresponsive her took a step toward her. "I said get out!"

Fear replaced the vacancy in her eyes as Isabel stretched a beseeching hand out, vulnerability evident in the sudden stoop of her shoulders and draw of her mouth. "Alex, I—"

"_GET OUT!"_ He roared. "Jesus, Isabel, to think I was sure you were different. That you cared about me, about any of us. But you know what? No more. I've put up with a lot of shit from you, but accusing the two girls who only ever helped you is low even for you. I can't even look at you right now." She was running for the door before the last words left his mouth, her head bent low as tears filled her eyes.

Alex flinched when the door slammed. Guilt was a physical taste in his mouth, metallic and bitter. The implication of words torn from his mouth against his better judgment hit him fully, grim acceptance settling in as he realized how splintered the group had become. He shook his head as he climbed the stairs in an effort to banish the argument and the look of Isabel's eyes, glazed over and unforgiving, from his head.

Maria needed to be checked on. He padded to his bedroom door softly, hoping that the blowout downstairs hadn't woken her up. The unsettling realization that Isabel was no longer his main concern washed over him as he paused, his hand settled on the doorknob. The cruel glint in her eyes while she'd talked about Liz washed over him and he shuddered involuntarily. Her words had almost been enough to make him wish that she was the one being replaced by the shapeshifter. Stress and defense mechanisms could go to hell as far as he was concerned, because the Isabel Evans he'd just encountered was nothing like the girl he'd fallen in love with.

-

Maria clutched Alex's comforter more tightly as her body trembled with another round of shivers. Sweat lined her brow, joining the tears falling in quick succession from her eyes. She curled into a ball when the door slammed shut, rocking back and forth as Isabel's words replayed in her ears. She'd always known that Isabel hadn't liked her, barely tolerated her, really; but to hear her talk that way about her, and the things she had said about Liz….

_Ria?_

Maria bolted from the bed. The door opened to reveal Alex looking at her worriedly, exhaustion and sadness written on his face. "What's going on?" He asked, reaching out to pull her into a gentle hug. "Did you hear Isabel and I arguing?"

She pulled away from him impatiently, shutting her eyes and trying her hardest to concentrate. The voice that had appealed more to her heart than her ears was long gone, but she could still feel a fleeting connection to Liz and she clung to it wholeheartedly. "No," she whimpered, digging her palms into her eyes as the sensation faded. "No, no, no!" Alex moved to pull her into his arms again, and this time she didn't resist.

"Maria, talk to me," he pleaded, his voice catching in his throat.

She bit back a sob as she turned to look at him, her eyes glassy and desperate. "She was here again. I didn't get a flash this time, but she felt me and she reached out to me and she was _here_, Alex!" Maria took a jagged breath and tears spilled down her cheeks as she looked at the ground. "She was trying to take care of me."

Alex's brow furrowed in confusion as he watched her. "What do you mean, she reached out to you? You mean like… like an alien thing?" He questioned, not bothering to ask who 'she' was.

Maria shook her head from side to side and ran a hand through her hair. "Whatever it was, it was definitely not alien. At least not the brand of alien that Miss Evans is so fond of displaying," she spat out. "This was Liz. It was completely human and real and Liz."

Alex drew in a huge breath and looked at her closely. "Maria, I think it's time we visited Max. We have no idea what the hell Nasedo did to you, and I don't want…" He paused and his voice broke, "… I don't want something to happen to you, too."

Her eyes filled with fresh tears as she surveyed him. "You don't believe me, do you? You think, you think I'm just making this up because I'm desperate or because Nasedo did something to my mind?"

"After what he did to Liz and the way he assaulted you this morning, I wouldn't put anything past that bastard," Alex growled quietly. "Look at yourself, Maria. You're trembling from head to foot and in a cold sweat. You threw up minutes after I picked you up and you can't even focus your eyes too long on one place."

Maria's jaw tightened as she looked at him defiantly. She pointedly held his gaze for an interminable moment before opening her mouth. "I'm fine, Alex. I'm upset, but I'm not sick. And if this really is a flash thing, then yes, we probably should go to Max." A relieved smile covered her face and her eyes glimmered with latent excitement. "I bet he's been hearing her too. He's probably worked out some alien voodoo, and I bet that he knows where she is and…."

"Maria," Alex cut in quietly. When she looked up at him he had to force his eyes away from her face. "I want this to be real. You have no idea how much I…but it's not. They're the aliens, you know? Liz is just a human. We're just human, and I think that whatever's happening to you is alien. We need to find them and set you straight," he pleaded. His lips curled into a hesitant smile and he shrugged his shoulders. "I'll bet when we explain the situation to Michael he'll beat the stuffing out of Nasedo."

Maria's back stiffened and she turned to face him. "Oh my God," she whispered. "That's it. That's why she came to me." Alex lowered his head, fighting back the pathetic urge to cry. It seemed that at the moment nothing he did comforted her, and he was at a loss for what to do. Maria moved toward him, latching onto his arms and shaking him softly. "Alex, both times that she's come it's been because I've been really upset. This morning some bitchy old lady made some offhanded comment about her and I completely lost it in the break room, and then, when Isabel came in—"

"So you did hear," he interrupted. "Listen, Maria, she had no right to say what she did, but she didn't mean any of it. You have to believe that."

She crossed her arms over her chest in a defensive gesture. "You don't understand. I wasn't upset because of what Isabel was saying. The whole time she was talking, I… I couldn't help but think that she'd cared enough to check up on you, but that Michael was nowhere to be found." She gave him a helpless, teary smile. "It was kind of a new low in our relationship."

Alex closed his eyes. At the moment, he highly doubted that anything he had to say would make a difference to her. With the vision of her frail frame hunched over, her arms hugging her stomach tightly, he only hoped he wouldn't be responsible for upsetting her further. "Okay," he finally allowed, not sure what he was agreeing to and not caring much. "Okay," he repeated, running his fingers through his hair as he turned to look at her. She was staring at an undesignated patch of the wall. He shut his mouth abruptly, realizing that she was too far away for anything he said to make much of an impact on her anyway.

-

Max glanced at Michael through narrowed eyes as his friend cursed under his breath. "Maxwell, you've gotta help me out here. We've checked the rock formation, your house, the park, and the mall, and we still haven't found her," Michael complained, panic evident in his voice. "Where else does your sister go?"

"School," Max answered dully, eyeing the storefronts with disinterest. "School and the Crashdown." His gut clenched painfully at the mention of the familiar restaurant. He furiously brushed away the tears stinging his eyes as he remembered Liz's smiling face greeting him at his usual booth two days ago. Anger quickly welled up inside him as an image of Nasedo shifting out of Liz's form flashed through his head.

"Damn it!" Michael groaned. "Why would she do this? She knows how on edge we all are right now. The last thing we need is to have someone else abducted."

Max instantly stiffened at the careless words, and Michael flinched at the expression on his friend's face. Before he could offer up an awkward apology, though, Max jerked his head to the right. "Turn at the next intersection. We haven't checked Alex's house yet." Michael nodded stiffly and flicked on the turn signal. They drove in silence until they reached the unfamiliar neighborhood and Max gave a few more quiet instructions until they had pulled up in front of Alex's house.

Maria was bounding out the door before Michael had a chance to cut the engine. He turned to her, poised to ask her why she wasn't in school, but she brushed past him and took hold of Max's arm. "I saw Liz this morning," she said breathlessly.

"Nasedo is impersonating her," Michael announced dully, looking away guiltily.

"I know that," Maria snapped, her eyes flashing as she faced him. Before he could retort he noticed the bruise marks on her neck.

"What happened to your neck?" He demanded.

The porch's wooden planks creaked as Alex moved to join them. "Nasedo attacked her at the café this morning," he said quietly.

"Shit," Michael cursed, blood rushing in his ears as he curled his fists. A wave of primal rage swept over him at the image of Maria, defenseless against the powerful alien, being terrified and assaulted. He sought her gaze, stung when he found her avoiding him studiously.

"Listen, has Isabel been here today?" Max interrupted. "She went missing during second period according to Tess."

"Yeah, she was here earlier," Alex said uncomfortably. "She wasn't doing too well."

"And you just let her go?" Michael inquired furiously. Maria was temporarily forgotten as he looked at the man that he had trusted with Isabel's safety, both emotional and physical. Out of all of the humans, Alex was the last one that he would have expected to close rank and turn away one of the aliens out of spite.

"I wasn't going to stop her after some of the things she said," Alex retorted bitingly.

"Stop it, all of you!" Maria cried. When the three of them turned to face her she drew in a deep breath. "Max, I got a flash of Liz this morning at the café. I was thinking about her and suddenly she just… appeared for a moment in a hospital gown. Then after Isabel left today, I heard her voice in my head. I think that she's trying to contact me." She looked up at him, hopefully searching for some sign of approval or commiseration.

"Don't be ridiculous," Michael bit out. When he caught sight of Maria's broken expression he swiftly backtracked. "I'm just saying, there's no way that you can be seeing her."

Maria turned to look at Max entreatingly. "Max, don't you feel her? I know that she's trying to contact us somehow. I'm sure of it."

Max wordlessly considered the recognition that had been building in him while Maria spoke. All day he had felt her, almost as if she was a corporeal presence beside him. He'd simply brushed it off as shock before. Still… when he had walked into Nasedo's staged seduction of Kyle, his assurance that it was an imposter had nothing to do with Liz's disappearance and everything to do with the sense of alien presence rife in the air. Was it possible that Liz could actually be contacting him somehow through their connection? And if so, how had she appeared to Maria?

Max started to reply but took pause at a sudden shift in the air. He felt Liz with more clarity than he had since yesterday evening, suddenly, and he reached out desperately to hold onto the sensation of her surrounding him. Without warning she appeared in front of him, her eyes locking on his almost immediately. The earlier bruising and cuts on her face and arms had disappeared, but the delicate skin under her eyes was still puffy with exhaustion. The hospital gown hanging from her frame gave her a sickly appearance, but he hardly even noticed as his eyes raked over her face. "Liz," he breathed out, reaching for her arm. Her eyes filled with panic as she took in something beyond him and she disappeared abruptly. Michael and Alex's exclamations vaguely swam in his ears, cut off by Maria's voice, equal parts triumphant and frightened. His eyes remained trained on the air that Liz had occupied moments before, as if he could bring her back from wherever she was by simply needing her. The space remained empty.

His friends' voices were distorted as if through a tunnel, and as he shook his head to regain his bearings the barrage of sounds fell upon his ears like a hammer. "Stop," he said softly. Although Alex and Michael continued to glare at each other, silence fell as soon as the word left his mouth. Max looked up wearily, his eyes meeting Michael's for a moment before he returned his gaze to the ground. "I'm going to go to school and get Tess. Michael, you should find Isabel and meet us back here. She might be able to dreamwalk Liz while she's awake if Liz really is contacting us."

"Why the hell would you bring her here?" Maria burst out. "I think she made it clear earlier that she had no intention of helping Liz unless it was to save your asses."

Max found himself unable to meet the anger and raw pain in her eyes. "Because," he said quietly, fear making his voice catch, "It's the most efficient way to go about it. And if the look in Liz's eyes was any indication, she doesn't have any time to spare."


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter Five

Daniel Pierce watched in fascination as his charge writhed on the hospital standard bed. As soon as she'd been returned to her room she'd gone from unresponsive to completely distressed, never once breaking out of her trance-like state. Almost three hours had passed since then. After the doctors had resolved to leave her to her own devices her healing had been remarkably fast – one might say, he acknowledged with an excited smile, supernaturally so. It was apparent that she was in pain, but after her almost comatose reaction to the earlier morphine drip Dr. Sampson was hesitant to put her on anything else; in fact, according to the doctor, it wasn't completely ridiculous to deduce that it was the medication itself that had put her into her current delusional state.

"Aidua," she whispered quietly.

He leaned in hopefully and waited intently for her to say something else, but she merely fell silent once more. He growled in frustration as he rocked back into his chair, wondering for the hundredth time what the foreign word meant. It was the only damn thing she'd said since they had put her under, and although the small piece of information was intriguing, he would have preferred something a bit more concrete to hang his hopes of discovering an alien language on. "Ay-dew-uh," he repeated under his breath. Where the words had been graceful coming from her they were clunky and awkward on his lips.

"Aidua," she said again, this time with more urgency in her voice. Her movements stilled almost completely for a second, and then she resumed her thrashing in earnest. "Est mina erdon!"

The sudden outburst sent a thrill of anticipation up Daniel's spine. The Special Unit had been poring over a handful of symbols that were more likely than not only ancient Mesalika characters for years, but now he would be the one to bring them recordings of entire sentences of an alien speech.

Liz Parker was turning out to be more of an asset than he'd originally thought.

-

It was happening again.

Liz gritted her teeth in protest, her fingernails making pink moons in her palms as she balled her fists in preparation. The internal battle that had been going on for what seemed like an eternity rose up again, flashes trickling through her mind too quickly for her to understand. She blinked her eyes in a desperate attempt to rid them of the hazy light that had replaced her surroundings and was immediately thrown into a kaleidoscope of blaring reds, greens, and whites. The indentations in her palms began to leak blood as she resigned herself to the panic and displacement sweeping over her. She was vaguely aware of voices drifting toward her, but she pushed the knowledge aside as she tried to fight her way through the cobwebbed recesses of her mind.

"_Kyle Valenti…flirting… this morning."_

"… _crazy… Kyle Valenti? … serious relationship…Pam Troy… cup size below a B."_

"… _blind. Either that… more maintenance work… self esteem… every way…miles ahead…"_

"Liz," _someone called out. She opened her eyes slowly, immediately bombarded by Max's pleading eyes and the tangible presences of Alex, Michael, and Maria. Absolute silence fell for a moment, and she fought the urge to close her eyes in anticipation as he reached out for her. Her eyes lost focus for a moment, and without warning the Crashdown Café replaced Alex Whitman's front lawn._

"…_try telling that… squad."_

"…_too modest… good. Are you forgetting that the captain… sit…? …monumental, Liz."_

"_Please… needed help… homework." _

"…_gods of West Roswell High… basketball team. Do you … pick up the table… save you …agony?" _

"… _enough! What… going on…?" _

"_Who, moi?"_

_Half of a sob escaped her lips as Liz relived that day months ago. Her hands trembled with the urge to reach up and cup Maria's cheeks the way she had done that afternoon and her eyes searched behind closed lids for the familiar sights of Kyle Valenti and his cronies making an absolute mess of their corner booth. The need to escape her delirium left her frantic and ready to claw off her face just for the reassurance of some solid physical sensation cutting through the hazy memories. For a moment her dream-hands came into focus, and the dazzling lights cast a greenish tint over them when she failed to pry her fingers from her palms. In the next moment her own voice was assaulting her ears loudly._

"_Maria, please! You're acting… some guy…crush – … may not… true – would be…end of…world." _

_Almost as if Maria herself had grown a duplicate and reached out to soothe Liz's confusion, the voices suddenly came into focus. Liz immediately sought out the familiar head of blond hair, ignoring the vision of her own dark figure standing next to her best friend._

"_Yeah, well, I just don't want to see you getting sucked into the black hole of popularity. I mean, it's all good and well at first, but what happens when Kyle breaks your heart or you get smart and realize that he's not good enough for you and Alex and I are already on the periphery?"_

"_Now I know you're crazy. You, me, and Alex? Maria, we're solid. Kyle Valenti and Pam Troy and the entire cheerleading squad is not going to change that. Aliens will be inhabiting Roswell before the three of us part ways." _

"_Yeah?"_

"_Yeah."_

_A scream tore from her throat as complete darkness fell over her eyes, but before it had even sounded more colors and images were hurtling toward her at light speed._

"_Keeper of Antar, the truth is your birthright and its people belong to you as surely as you belong to them. Deceive them or sentence them to bloodshed…"_

"…_and so it was that the uprising came and the leaders were divided in two, neither side a good side and husband at odds with wife. But it was the Keepers who retreated, drawing away from those that needed them and withdrawing into the darkness…"_

"…_you have been matched, as you were in the last life. It is imperative that nothing divide you or hinder you from completing your mission…"_

_And then her own voice broke through the haze, steady but filled with dread._

"_Because you're not governing one planet. That's it, isn't it? The four of them are in charge of all five planets in their solar system."_

_A silent 'no' resounded over and over in her head as the images and voices crashed into her without order or sense. Fear unlike any that had touched her before welled up inside her, and as her mind began to grasp the reasoning behind it darkness enveloped her again. _

And then he was there with her.

Or she was with him; it didn't seem an important distinction. Phantom hands reached out to smooth away the bruised skin under his eyes and the downward curl of his lips. Charcoal hair brushed against the nape of his neck, flirting with the collar of his long-sleeved shirt. His hands were wound tightly around the keys to the jeep as he moved through empty hallways, finally stopping outside of a filled classroom. He leaned against the doorway for a moment, his eyes shutting of their own accord. And as he breathed in, she could almost swear that he felt her there beside him.

The bell rang, shattering the momentary serenity she'd gleaned from his presence. Tess walked out of the classroom, her jaw clenched and her back stiff. Max touched her lightly on the arm, and when she looked up at him, Liz saw the flash of desire that stole into her eyes. Max glanced down at the pale expanse of arm that his hand had closed around, and when he looked back at her face confusion and need were warring for dominance in his eyes.

Suddenly Liz felt every inch the outsider looking in. Here she was trying to push herself into Max's daily routine as surely as she'd done with Maria hours earlier, never even considering that he might not need or want her so nearby. Whatever was happening to Max and Tess was something powerful and primal, something that went deeper than any of the ties that bound the humans and aliens together. If she'd thought the earlier flashes were cruel, seeing Max and Tess interacting like this in a world more likely than not of her own making was pure torture.

"You have been matched as you were in your last life," she mumbled, the beginning of a strange sensation forming in her fingertips.

"What's that, Miss Parker?"

Liz's head snapped up in surprise as she turned to face Daniel Pierce's charming grin. "Oh!" She exclaimed. "I must have been talking to myself." She looked around cautiously, her disorientation at suddenly finding herself awake in an unfamiliar room making her wary. "When did you get here?"

"I've been here for awhile," he supplied. "We got some interesting results back from your tests and I wanted to be the first one to discuss them with you."

"Tests?" Liz squeaked. She sat up and brought her knees to her chest in a protective gesture. The easy movements made her brow furl, and after a moment of consideration she recalled that the last time she had been conscious she had had several broken bones and a series of small lacerations sprinkled haphazardly along her back and arms. Exactly how much time had she lost?

"I hope you won't think us too presumptuous," Agent Pierce replied. He moved towards her with feline grace, and suddenly he was less than an inch from her. The air seemed charged and she waited with sickening anticipation for him to close the small gap between them. His hand reached out and smoothed her hair back from her forehead. Liz blinked drowsily, the panic his presence aroused in her muted by her exhaustion. "We've been giving you some very strong medications after your initial surgeries…" He paused at the sharp look she sent his way. "…to set the broken bones and all. Imagine our surprise when you were completely unresponsive to the drugs. At one point we stopped your morphine drip entirely to try to wake you, but when that didn't work one of the doctors suggested that we run a few tests."

Liz arched her brow. "What kind of tests, exactly?" Her heart pounded a steady tattoo against her chest as she regarded him, wondering why, when all of her tests could only have returned normal, he was wearing the fabled grin of the cat that had snatched and swallowed the canary.

And ugly smirk shifted his features and Liz was reminded of Kathleen Topolsky's genteel, strained smile and the carefully phrased falsehoods that had almost always accompanied it. "We've run multiple X-rays and blood tests, screening you for a wide range of conditions. When that wasn't looking too promising, we decided that an MRI was in order. The technicians who ran the test said they'd never had a more cooperative subject," he joked. He sent her another flamboyant grin, this one reaching his eyes. "I guess comatose patients have their merits."

Her arms attempted to tighten their hold on her legs, and she found that the abrupt movement sent a shooting pain down the bruised right side of her body. "So, what did you discover?" She tried her best to make her voice casual, but a small tremble still managed to work its way through. From the Cheshire cat smile lighting his face, something was obviously abnormal about the results.

"Well, you're not getting enough iron for a sixteen-year-old girl for one thing. We also discovered that your brain activity is unusually high, almost entering the realm of extraordinary. I'm not sure I'd expect much less from West Roswell's star student, of course," he intimated, winking at her. The small action sent a shiver ripping down her back. "According to the doctors, everything else seems to be in normal, working order. All but one of them."

Her breath rushed out in a gasp as Daniel Pierce quickly moved to the opposite side of the room. He tarried over a waist-length steel table for a moment, rifling through a fat stack of X-rays before pinning one of them to an iridescent screen hanging on the wall. As his hands moved away, Liz felt triumph lifting the corners of her mouth into a satisfied smile: plump red blood cells shone at her, none of them anything but ordinary. "I don't see a problem," she ventured.

He tucked his hands behind his back as he observed the X-ray carefully. "Neither do I," he mused. "According to the doctor heading up the team assigned to your case, however, there's a rapidly spreading mutation in your blood cells. It's largely unnoticeable, which is why it probably hasn't shown up on previous blood screenings."

Liz furiously swallowed down the sudden lump in her throat. It would be naïve to think that being healed by Max Evans hadn't changed her physiology at all, but she had to admit that being faced with the actual evidence was panic-inducing. "Okay, so I-I'm sick. Have my parents been notified yet?"

Daniel's eyebrows rose and he let out an amused chuckle. "Sick? Liz, five hours after you were taken off of all medication your body had healed itself almost completely. Give or take a few bruises, you'd think the past twenty-four hours hadn't even happened."

A wail rose in her throat. Something decidedly alien was happening to her body, and this time Max Evans wasn't around to account for it. "So I can go home, then?" She tried, doing her best to make her voice calm and matter-of-fact. No matter what happened, she couldn't start acting guilty.

Agent Pierce studied her closely, his mouth curling into a grim smile. "Not any time soon. My team is extremely excited by the opportunities this presents. At the very least we'll need to collect several more blood samples before you go and do some more extensive testing."

"But you can't do that!" She burst out. Indignation suddenly bubbled as she thought of Max walking around school touching Tess on the arm, a fantasy that mirrored multiple stolen moments that the two had shared since the other girl came to school. And Maria, distraught and heartbroken and not altogether right, would be taking this news the hardest of anyone, most likely reliving a day nine years ago when someone else walked out of her life without explanation. Her own unease she could swallow, but knowing that Max and Maria, the two most important people in her life, were hurting was enough to make her forget about being levelheaded. "Not without parental consent, which I'm assuming you don't have. Besides, I have rights, and at the very least I should be allowed to see my parents."

Glee showed in his eyes. He walked closer to her slowly, measuring the growing trepidation on her face each time he took another step forward and slowly closed the distance between them. "Of course you have rights," he acceded, drawling the words with that charming but slightly off southern accent. "But do you really expect us to let your parents come charging in here to take you home? Try to understand the unique position you've put us in, Miss Parker. We went looking for a murdering alien, and instead you fell into our laps. You're quite the biological anomaly."

"I'm completely human," Liz insisted.

In one lithe movement he'd captured a lock of her hair. He leisurely ran his fingers through the ebony strands, pausing for a moment to make eye contact. Desire darkened his eyes, converging with the sickly sweet veneer that he'd thrown aside only moments earlier. Liz looked down at her feet, preparing for the inevitable insinuation or uninvited contact. His fingers curled around her wrists, bringing them up to his eye level. He examined them carefully for a minute before returning them to her. "I'm needed in the lab. But don't worry, I'll be back soon."

Unknown to her, Daniel Pierce had stopped just outside the door, leaning against the wall and letting loose the first in what was sure to be a long string of genuine smiles that day. Just as he'd suspected, the earlier injury Miss Parker had sustained to her hands had disappeared, only to be spoken of by a faint green cast to her palms.

-

Tess tensed as the familiar hair-raising sensation crept up on her. A quick glance at the clock confirmed her suspicions that the period was almost over, which meant that in a matter of minutes she would have to go out into the hall and face whichever alien had drawn the short straw and been forced into confronting her. Irrepressible dread rose in her at the thought of it being Max. She'd nearly been driven to tears by his earlier accusations, even if she'd done a good job of hiding it, and she wasn't sure she could survive another encounter like that.

But really, had his suspicion been so uncalled for?

She shoved the thought away, but it was quickly replaced with the image of Michael earlier that morning as he'd rejected her offer of help, obviously torn but unyielding all the same. He didn't trust her anymore than Max did. The familiar irritation that came hand in hand with these new emotions tickled her senses, and Tess ground her teeth as she wondered once why that particular fact bothered her so much. _You know perfectly well why you're so hurt by his rejection_, the small voice at the back of her head whispered with dark amusement. _Every flash you've gotten lately has been of Rath, and _he _never saw fit to cast Ava aside. There was a time when the only person who could challenge her hold on him was Vilandra, and in this incarnation you don't even have competition from her. But Ava was a queen and you, you are just a silly girl with too much human DNA and too little dignity to hold the King's interest, much less his second's. _

She focused on the geometry teacher's lifeless conclusion with renewed stubbornness, reminding herself that she had to at least keep up the appearance of learning. No matter that she had scanned the entire textbook the evening she had received it and knew all of the principles by heart. No matter that her best friend had once again abandoned her for the love of his life.

…_what? _

The feeling of walls closing in on her that had become so nagging since her return to Roswell slammed into her full force, the power of it making her draw in a sharp breath. Kyle Valenti twisted in his seat at the sound, giving her an unreadable look before turning around again. For a moment the panic bubbling so close to the surface almost overflowed, and she had the acute urge to grab his arm and beg for help. _Steady there, Tess. Help means a trip to the nurse's office and unnecessary contact with a human. It might even equate to a trip to the hospital and a few more uncomfortable lies if you're not careful. _

A wail threatened to break through her carefully constructed façade. She was so very sick of all the lies.

The bell shrilled and as one the occupants of the class gathered their belongings and rushed to the door. She followed the stream of teenagers out the door and mentally steeled herself for another confrontation with one of the wary members of the group she'd unceremoniously infiltrated. A second before she saw him she sensed that it was Max, and without blinking she prepared for a mindwarp. Thanks to years under Nacedo's tutelage, the demanding task didn't even faze her. With her eyes closed and mind ready, she formed a split-second connection. In the next instant his warm hand on her arm had her reeling.

"_I never wanted this for you, Ava. I wanted you to fall in love or at the very least settle for a comfortable, happy partnership with someone like Rath." _

"_No, I won't calm down! Zan's mother had no right to do that without your consent, and that bastard should never have_ _sided with her!" _

"_Can't we at least try to make this work? I know that you don't love me. I'm not in love with you either, but–" _

"_-No, you're in love with him." _

As the flash ended Tess looked up at Max and saw that he looked much as she felt. When he raised his head to meet her gaze, she saw that his eyes were filled with lust that fled as soon as their eyes made contact. "Why didn't I see you?" He asked, his voice filled with wonder and a shred of fear.

"What do you mean?" Tess replied, doing her best to look unaffected. The complete lack of venom in Max's voice was only slightly less shocking than the barrage of memories that had assaulted her seconds ago.

"Usually when we touch I… I see the two of us," he supplied, looking embarrassed and slightly ashamed. Tess fought back irritation in the pit of her stomach. He might have been attractive, but no more so than she was. What right did he have to pretend that he didn't enjoy the images she sent him? "But this time you weren't there," he continued. The faintest of smiles played across his handsome face. "I saw Liz." Noticing her shaken demeanor for the first time he touched her bicep lightly, and Tess breathed a sigh of relief when the contact didn't elicit another round of flashes. He looked at her eagerly, his eyes darkening with concern when she flinched under his touch. "Tess? What did you see?"

"Nothing," she lied, meeting his gaze steadily. There was no way that she was telling him that her storybook romance seemed to be crumbling before her eyes, or that she was almost sure that for a moment there she'd heard her mother's voice.

That fact alone proved that whatever she had seen was a cruel trick of her imagination - much like Tess herself, Ava had never had a mother.

-

Steam and hoarse chanting filled the air, adding to the already heavy weight of expectation coming from the five other participants in the room. River Dog studiously shut out their probing gazes, vague amusement trickling through his mental haze at their blatant curiosity. When he'd called for the ritual to be observed so soon after the last sweat bath more than one eyebrow had raised. In recent years his competence as Shaman had been called into question, a view that had only been furthered by the small, dark-haired visitor that had come to him earlier in the year.

It was ironic, then, that his people were rallying around him because of her.

The dream plane had remained closed to him for some time now. Originally that had chipped away at his already flagging confidence in his ability, dread rearing its ugly head and suggesting that he might have lived past his usefulness to his people. Last night, though, the visions had come upon him with brutal clarity. In the midst of his quiet relief, he'd taken the time to carefully deliberate the dreams and had come to a startling conclusion: the Keeper had been reborn, years too soon and in a most unlikely host. And now, because of the foolishness of Antar's heir, they all stood to pay for it.

He could only hope that the King hadn't made a dreadful mistake.

"_Help."_ His head shot up at the tiny sound, and he squinted into the blinding desert sun as he caught sight of the frail girl standing mere feet away from him. Her feet were bare and her head uncovered, lowered in supplication. The simple white robe that adorned her was formless, hiding any of her curves and adding to her childlike appearance. Green energy danced across her fingers.

"I didn't believe that I would live to see your ascension," he said in awe.

She lifted her face and met his gaze steadily, her large brown eyes boring into his pleadingly. Without conscious effort she pulled him into the waking plane, and he paled visibly at the sight of her unconscious form writhing on a hospital bed, a familiar and threatening enemy keeping vigil over her. The scene faded and they were back in the desert, surrounded by symbols of the Old language. _"Help,"_ she repeated.

River Dog gazed at her with remorse, sensing her fear coiled tightly around the ever-present calm her people carried. "I cannot offer you haven," he said quietly. "It was not meant. I would have been told before now if I were to help you."

Tears wet her eyelashes and she held out her palms, showing him the scorching red marks the energy trails were leaving along her skin. Confusion and anger warred for dominance in her face, and in the end she ignored them both and kneeled before him in a show of humility, her shoulders shaking uncontrollably. He reached forward with sure hands, cupping the crown of her head and smoothing strands of hair away from her face. When she tilted her face upward, he was once more hit with the sheer emotion in her fathomless eyes. _'You know this burden is not mine to carry. It is not my place.'_

If the mental whisper frightened him he gave no indication. "So it is. But you are under the protection of the King. It is his duty to come for you."

'_But he won't come. The King does not remember, and what of his wife? She walks with the Shadows.'_

A frown marred his features. He knew that Nasedo had not died years ago as the other believed, but when he'd reached out for the Queen after encountering the others earlier in the year, he had only found the small girl before him. "He has given you the seal," he murmured, horrible realization dawning on him. "But how can that be?"

Her spine stiffened as an energy trail shot up her spine, and she let out a muffled scream as she faded before his eyes. He looked on her with new understanding as she struggled to remain before him. When it was over she straightened once more, looking up at him with composure that belied her terror. _"Help me."_

"I cannot give you that which you seek. My power wanes by the day, and there are only a few who still bear the mark of Antar. None believe anymore." A dull ache began at the back of his head, and his trepidation grew as he felt himself being pulled away from her and into another vision.

The wind whipped her hair away from her face as she scrambled to her feet to face him head-on. _"Help is mine to command from you!"_ It was with that final warning that she disappeared, and the guilt pounding through his head allowed him to welcome the new vision.

Again she was there, though, and the man he had seen before towered over her. The lack of clarity gave the vision the feel of a premonition, and River Dog watched the scene play out before his eyes with horror turning his stomach. The image became clear as it neared the end, and he saw the girl drop to the floor, exhausted and broken under the weight of her guilt and rage.

"_River Dog! River Dog!"_ He gradually became aware of a large hand gripping his shoulder tightly, shaking him with undue force in an effort to wake him. When he opened his eyes he found Eddie staring at him, wild-eyed and frightened. "Thank God you're awake," he said. "One of the children went to get Anaba, but grandmother wanted us to call an ambulance."

He wracked his mind until he was able to put a face with the name, faintly amused and extremely pleased when he recognized the girl almost immediately. Tall and strong, with a stubborn jaw line and kind eyes, his grand niece would be perfect for the job he had in mind. River Dog clutched Eddie's wrist and ground out the order softly. "No hospitals. When Anaba comes, leave us alone. There is use of her."

Eddie stared at him, suddenly wary of the change in the Shaman. When he'd fallen to the ground convulsing moments before, Eddie had wondered almost immediately if it had something to do with the boy who had demanded entrance to the sweat ritual a few months ago and then fell prey to the same condition. The strange gleam in River Dog's eye was as good as proof that his calculation had been right. "I thought you said that the Royals had no need of us," he said quietly, his voice betraying his carefully veiled question.

"No," River Dog assented, gazing at him with wide eyes, "but there is one who does. The human girl walks with the old ones and has been entrusted with the seal."

"That's impossible," he bit out, doing his best to hide his fear.

"It has come to pass. And she has called on us for help," the Shaman confirmed.

"But why?" Eddie trembled.

River Dog closed his eyes, as if willing away a painful memory. "Because the Keepers have never trusted the Royals. And because she still has no idea who she is."


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter Six

_She sighed softly, curling into her side on the thin twin mattress. There were only a few hours left until daylight, and she was left feeling vulnerable and unprepared as she thought of the two suitcases resting against her bed. No one knew where she was going except Eddie, and even the thought of her mother's eyes, judgmental and disapproving, was enough to quell her determination. High school had been necessary, and community college an accepted but begrudged indulgence. Going away to school, though, even if she wasn't crossing any state lines… her family would find it unforgivable. River Dog would find it irresponsible, and his disagreement would be the worst. _

_For he controlled not only the tribe but the tide of her own heart, twisting innocent curiosity into an unnatural need for answers and a desire to be independent into a haughty and guilty fantasy. How was he to understand that now that the choking reigns of the prophecy had been dropped, she was facing her first and possibly only chance for escape?_

_Morning would come soon, and with it bitter tears. The heated pronouncement that she was exactly like her father would come from her mother and the sad, confused faces of her younger siblings, none of who seemed to understand, would look out at her from behind dark bangs. Whether her life was her own or not, she simply refused to live it here any longer. The human side, the one that she had been so careful to protect from everyone's prying eyes and nurture carefully, would be stamped out entirely if she was left here to rot. _

_River Dog was chasing dreams that would never come to fruition. She loved him, both as the spiritual guide he was for the public and the paternal figure he had posed as when her own father left. He would die an old man, assured in his faith that she would repent of her so-called rebelliousness and make her vow of servitude in time to welcome the savior of their dying race. Eddie would take his place. Then she would come back, and the two of them would change everything. He was as dedicated to their people's survival as she was, and unlike their elders they understood that the old ways were ending. Surviving couldn't be enough anymore. _

_A cool, thin line of wetness trickled down the outside edge of her nose. Loneliness was already making her sick, and she hadn't even left yet. Tomorrow would come, though, and her human mother would once again bring out the alien side in her before she left it behind her completely. It seemed impossible that two people could be so alike and carry so many of the same dreams but never see eye to eye. Everything that her mother stood for and loved was forbidden to her, simply because of whom her father had been, who River Dog was. Couldn't her mother understand that the one thing that she wanted more than anything in the world was, simply, to be human? _

Liz drew in a shuddering breath, clinging tightly to her vivid dream as she roused from her slumber. The fluorescent overhead light made it impossible to discern day from night, and as minutes stretched into hours she'd found herself falling in and out of disturbed dreams, seeing flashes of Max, Tess, Isabel, and Michael, all paired accordingly, as well as her own foggy memories. Something at the back of her mind urged her to try harder to recall exactly what she was seeing in these dreams, insisting that there was something of importance that she was missing.

This dream hadn't been like all the rest, though. This time she'd been another person entirely, someone as young and alone as she was now, sad in a soul-deep way that had tears wetting Liz's face. All of this had carried over to her, but none of it phased her as completely as she would have expected. In the place of depression or unsettlement, she felt only a strong sense of connection and foreign warmth that left her feeling protected.

Instead of being frightened by the very idea, Liz immediately latched onto the startling but instinctual assurance that this person was indeed real, existing outside her own panic-addled brain. Somewhere out there, in need of just as much comfort as she herself, was a young woman who had an intimate knowledge of Eddie, River Dog, and the Native American reservation that the group had frequented earlier in the year. And although she knew that this girl was incapable of helping anyone but herself, Liz had a strong inclination that she was, in fact, the one who would be coming to her rescue.

-

Anaba bolted upright, her hands immediately coming together and rising up to cup her cheeks. Her breathing was ragged as she tried to calm her alarming whimpers. Tears ran down her long, graceful fingers as she replayed the memory that had invaded her sleep. The ceiling had a warped quality as she tilted her head upward to examine it, and her anxiety increased two-fold. She had never in her life remembered even one of her dreams, assuming that her people simply didn't have them at all. If that wasn't strange enough, this was the first time she'd cried since leaving for school; actually, since the night she'd just relived.

The same biological anomalies that enabled her to dry her sweat-drenched sheets with a flick of her hand had her focusing her attention inwardly, seeking out the emotions roiling inside of her and attempting to annihilate them like the enemy they were. To her chagrin and bewilderment they remained, growing in strength if that was at all possible. It was almost as if…

The shrill ringing of her phone cut off her musing, leaving her shaking as she pulled back the curtains cutting out the afternoon light. She quickly glanced at the caller ID, doing a double-take at the name that came up on the screen. She hadn't heard from Eddie in anything more than a go-between capacity for the reservation in over two years. Her inability to move remained firmly in place as the phone continued to ring, and the answering machine across the studio apartment crackled as it came to life.

"Hi, you've reached Anaba Jacobs. I'm not here to take your call right now, but if you leave me a message I'll do my best to get back at you." A metallic beep, overpowering in volume, sounded against the static background.

"_An, this is Eddie. I'm sorry to call you, but after talking to River Dog I thought I should follow up. He's fine now, the convulsions have stopped-"_

She hollowly eyed the green light blinking on the small console, informing her that she had an unheard message.

"_But he's still asking for you. I know you'll come regardless, but I just wanted to warn you – he's mentioning someone, a human girl who came to the reservation with three of the royals some months back."_

Her eyes widened as she absorbed this, but otherwise she remained still. She had the acute feeling that this was all leading somewhere that she didn't want to go. His next words confirmed this.

"_He's claiming that she's been captured by someone – and that she's the Keeper. God, this is hard to say. You have to believe me, I thought this was all over. I never would have encouraged you to leave if I thought you would just get pulled back in. We need you, but take your time getting here. I have the feeling that this is all going downhill fast, and you might not get the chance to tie up loose ends again."_

The sound of a receiver being hung up echoed through the room. Anaba buried her head in her hands, absently noting that his last sentiment eerily mirrored her own thoughts just a minute ago. Of course, they'd had that ability, half blessing and half curse, for years now. She breathed a small sigh of thanks that her summoning hadn't been urgent or commanded. Even now, he believed that she would do the right thing on her own.

And why shouldn't he? The terror and anguish she'd been experiencing hadn't been her own at all, but that of her long-ignored charge.

The Keeper was reaching out to her for the first time. Genetics insisted she answer the call, something they had never done before – it had been explained to her when she came of age that although it was her duty to guide and protect the Keeper, she would never be forced by her own body to defend her as she would for one of the four square. She wondered what that meant, but the resulting uneasiness that question caused had her gingerly rising from bed, rifling through the textbooks and medical dictionary on her floor for her already-completed final papers.

Her suspicions had been right. The emotions she'd experienced as a result of that awful dream, ones foreign to her for so long, weren't hers at all. A connection had already been formed between them, assuming that it hadn't been lying dormant all along.

She did not want to abandon the solitary but free life she'd carved out for herself to rescue someone who likely wasn't even aware of her existence. She didn't want to face Eddie, or her family, and she especially didn't want to face the old man who'd laid the fate of a world on her shoulders when her own world had just been opening up.

She didn't want to do any of these things, but the draw in her mind and the unmistakable pang of compassion in her heart had her preparing to do all of them anyway.

-

"_You think I'm stupid, don't you?"_

Michael gripped the steering wheel of Mrs. Evans's tan Camry tightly, grinding his teeth as his eyes covertly scanned the sidewalks. He'd been driving through all the busier streets in downtown in the hopes of finding Isabel perched on a bench or rifling through the clothing racks at some out-of-the-way boutique. So far he'd been unsuccessful, and with each passing moment panic and fury battled to slide into the forefront or his mind. Isabel of all people should have known better than to leave school without a word to him or Max. How could she be so reckless right after Liz, someone who wasn't even alien, had been taken?

He reached one of the town's few stoplights and promptly stomped on the brake, his eyes sliding shut. Liz had been taken from right under their noses, and he'd been none the wiser until it was too late to do a damn thing. He'd gone against his instincts because Nasedo had insisted that she was alright and he had naively wanted to believe that no caretaker of theirs would knowingly leave one of their friends to be captured by the enemy. Now it appeared that Liz herself wasn't going to be of much help in the rescue mission, either, unless she decided to send up an alien flare from her padded cell.

"_No. Not stupid."_

Guilt ate at him like acid, and the sheer loneliness of his situation made him want to curl into a ball. Isabel was going through a crisis, Maria hated him, Max was hysterical, and Tess… Tess was beginning to draw him in a way that didn't approach romantic but unsettled him all the same. She'd been pulling him in all along if he was honest with himself. The worst part was they had no solid way of knowing if she could be trusted.

The more he thought about it the more he wished they hadn't played into Tess's hands by excluding the humans; he missed Maria looking at him like he was somewhere above pond scum, and he missed the voice of reason and logic that Liz always managed to present. Somewhere during the past eight months he'd come to rely on Liz's judgment calls almost as much as Max's – he'd even come to view her as a good friend. The impenetrable wall that Max, Michael, and Isabel had erected around themselves had recently started to weaken to the point of being breached, and that was largely in part because of the honest, uncalculated offers of assistance that Liz and later Maria had put forth for so long.

"_Just forget it. He's not gonna come."_

He did his best to remember what exactly Alex and Maria had said in regards to Isabel, although he wasn't sure if either of them were the most reliable sources when it came to his sister-turned-alien-mate. If Alex had been that mad, though, Isabel must have been in a royal mood. Usually Isabel did everything short of shoot moonbeams out of her ass in Alex's book, and this sudden change in perspective had him on edge.

Despite the fact that he and Isabel had always been close (closer, maybe, than even Max and Isabel, who were always too concerned with stepping on each other's toes to ever really get to the heart of things), there were usually a small army of people that came before him in terms of rescue missions or "feel better" attempts. Perhaps because of their penchant for bickering away half of their time, most people didn't exactly see the two of them and automatically see closeness. And now, suddenly, Max just expected him to be able to bring Isabel back from whatever edge she'd found herself on, without any prior experience in comforting her.

How could he comfort her when she wouldn't even look at him anymore? Ever since those dreams had begun haunting their sleep, she'd looked at him as if he were a threat to her instead of one of the only two people she'd ever trusted with her life. He'd only made matters worse by his irrational questions about why it was that they couldn't be more than friends, since apparently they weren't biologically related.

Isabel, of course, had been horrified. Biology didn't change who he was to her as far as she was concerned. Seeing the two of them in that capacity had done something to him, though. True, the dreams were as disturbing to him now as they were when they began, mainly because neither he nor Isabel showed any ability to control anything they were doing in them. But they were making him think about what a real relationship with her would be like. He had always associated Isabel with family and home. Was it such a stretch to assume that sometime in the future, if they were unable to mate with humans and she still hadn't found anyone she loved enough to let all the way in, they would start a family with each other? Apparently it was, in Isabel's mind.

"_Maybe not tonight."_

Realizing that he'd circled around town until he'd ended up back at his apartment complex, he released an irritated huff and pulled into the driveway. Lunch had started at school about thirty minutes ago, and if Isabel didn't feel like pulling her ass into gear and coming to them –

His thoughts cut off abruptly when he saw her trembling under the entrance to the apartment building, obvious remnants of a crying jag on her face. Michael broke into a run as he neared her, quickly running his hands up and down her arms before resting them under her head. "Hey, you okay?" His thumbs smoothed the lingering dampness from her cheeks, and she shook her head as a gasp escaped her throat. Blond strands of hair shook free from her tight ponytail at the movement.

Her eyes fluttered shut under his gentle, calloused hands, her mouth turning down in barely suppressed fear. There was a long pause as she struggled to find adequate words, eventually shrugging helplessly. "I feel so – so strange, Michael," she frowned miserably, "Like I'm not right inside. The things I said earlier, the way I acted… it wasn't me. I _know_ it wasn't me! But I couldn't… couldn't stop the things that were coming out of my mouth," she moaned. Her tortured eyes looked into his, and he swallowed convulsively against his sudden need to fight off the shadows he saw darkening them. Never one to wonder when Isabel was being sincere or when she was hiding behind her popularity and manipulating people with emotional displays, Michael couldn't have denied her earnestness now if he tried. Mixed with the guilt and confusion in her eyes, however, was a strange, fearful intensity directed at him. "I just kept – kept _thinking_ that I had to get here. That I had to get to you and you would save me. Like you could put right whatever was wrong."

"_No, not ever. No one ever comes for me."_

He stared at her dumbly, mesmerized by the small, shuddering sigh she released when he traced his thumb across her lips. He found himself moving closer, until their foreheads were touching and there was less than a hair's breadth between him. All the conflicting emotions he'd been feelings over the past few days, all the times he'd put Isabel ahead of Maria without even thinking, came back to him in a rush. His conscience reared its head, reminding him that she was vulnerable and that this was wrong in a way that would bother her when she'd had time to think. "You don't want me that way," he reminded her softly, even though she hadn't done anything to indicate that she did.

"I know," she replied quickly. "I… I know what I said. And I meant it. But God, Michael, you are the _only_ person that I trust anymore. Max hasn't put either of us first in a long time, and Alex just doesn't understand any of this. And those dreams, I just can't – I can't stop thinking about it," Isabel confessed. "The three of us just kind of got stuck together because of what we were. But with the baby, and you, it just – it felt like a real family."

"You're not being fair to Max or Alex," Michael argued, his voice roughening as he surveyed her. Jesus, how was it that the sheer beauty of her had never affected him before? No wonder Alex and half the student body were gone on her. "They're under a lot of pressure."

"So are you, but you've been keeping everything together," she retorted. Her stance wasn't argumentative, however, and he could almost feel the tension draining from her muscles with each inch he closed between them.

"Hardly. I blew up at Nasedo, left Liz with the FBI, completely neglected Maria… it's a good thing Max is finally pulling himself together, because if I had to hold the reins any longer I'd probably permanently screw things up. It's what I do."

"_I will. Whenever you need me."_

She pulled away slightly, staring into his eyes fiercely. As if reading between the lines of what he was saying, she cupped his face in her palms and intoned lowly, "You don't break things, Michael. _You aren't broken_."

He angled his face forward unsurely, his breathing becoming ragged when she slid her fingers into his hair. Something about this moment, one he'd wondered over and somehow known was coming, seemed entirely too real. There was no dreamy quality, and no bad lighting to partially shade her face. It was imperfect by just about every standard imaginable, the humid desert air leaving a sheen of sweat on them both and the bawdy curses of some upstairs tenant coloring the air. He had the distinct feeling of being laid bare before her like never before.

His lips met hers quickly, stars and planets exploding behind his eyes. The sensation was too much, and he broke away, gasping. Isabel laid her head on his shoulder, clutching him frantically. With heightened awareness, he understood her reluctance to let go was not for her as much as it was for him. Her tears dampened his shirt. Michael kissed the side of her head blindly, unsure of anything except the arms circling his waist. Slowly, gently, he slid his hands over her shoulders, sliding down to the small of her back and closing the final distance between them.

She murmured drowsily, the word that came out sounding something like "Rath," and he felt a rush of gratitude and relief. Michael suddenly understood his irrational fear of his feelings for Isabel, and of how she would respond if she knew. The smallest of denials from her would have had the power to break him, because he was half in love with her already.

Suddenly he pictured himself relaying this information to a wounded and teary-eyed Maria, and his heart clenched. Whatever was being unlocked inside of him was undeniable, but it didn't mean that the thought of hurting her stung any less. Isabel's fingers danced along the creases of his shirt hesitantly, and he breathed in sharply when she turned her face up to him, sealing their lips once more. He uttered a wordless plea for forgiveness before losing himself in her thoroughly, accepting that Isabel Evans had accomplished what Max, Maria, and his belief in other alien life hadn't been able to do.

Michael Guerin had come completely unhinged by the girl who was inexplicably, unexpectedly managing to heal the deepest wounds he carried.


End file.
